With the election of office bearers of the National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) likely to be announced anytime now, RSS-affiliated cooperative organisation Sahakar Bharati has decided to stake its claim to the top posts of President and Vice President.
According to a highly placed source, Sahakar Bharati, which had earlier been inclined to go along with a consensus candidate for the office-bearers’ posts, has changed its position following the results of the NCUI Governing Council elections, in which candidates associated with the organization won 17 of the 21 seats.
Indian Cooperative has learnt that Sahakar Bharati has internally finalised its choices for the top positions at the apex national cooperative body. D.N. Thakur, currently Patron of Sahakar Bharati, is understood to be its choice for President, while former Karnataka MP Annasaheb Jolle has emerged as its preferred candidate for Vice President, the source said.
The main argument behind the shift in Sahakar Bharati’s stand is the overwhelming presence of its members in the newly constituted Governing Council. “Imagine a President who does not belong to the Sahakar Bharati fold taking a decision that is not acceptable to the majority of Sahakar Bharati members. What will they do?” the source asked, arguing that such a situation could result in frequent deadlocks in the decision-making process of the apex cooperative body.
The source maintained that with Sahakar Bharati-backed members holding a dominant position in the Governing Council, having an office-bearer from outside its fold could create friction between the President and the Council on important policy and administrative decisions.
The development comes after the Supreme Court cleared the legal hurdle surrounding the NCUI Governing Council election. On August 14, the Court dismissed as infructuous the pending Special Leave Petitions concerning the election, observing that “by the passage of time” the petitions had become infructuous, while leaving the questions of law open for consideration in an appropriate case. This effectively removed the immediate legal impediment to the election of the office bearers.
The proceedings stemmed from the Supreme Court’s May 4 interim order allowing National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL), National Cooperative Organics Limited (NCOL) and Bharatiya Beej Sahakari Samiti Limited (BBSSL) to participate in the NCUI election and cast their votes, while directing that the three votes be kept in sealed cover and that the declaration of results remain subject to further orders.
The five Group-II seats, representing the National Cooperative Federations constituency, therefore remain the final piece of the Governing Council election process to be formally completed. The clearance of the legal proceedings has now paved the way for the next crucial stage, election of the NCUI office bearers.
Against this backdrop, the decision of Sahakar Bharati to put forward its own candidates for the top posts could turn the forthcoming office-bearers’ election into a closely watched contest, particularly given the organization’s strong representation in the newly elected Governing Council.
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