Patna turns into co-op capital! Temporarily!

Any foreign cooperator visiting India presently, will have to travel to the land of Buddha that is Bihar to meet desi cooperators as most of them are camping in Patna. Be it President of ICA Asia Pacific or President of NCUI, IFFCO MD or Nafed Chairman, all of them are in Patna, being hosted by Biscomaun Chairman Dr Sunil Kumar Singh on the occasion of his son’s wedding.

Interestingly, it is not only fun for cooperative bigwigs as they have also kept a series of business meetings to avail themselves of the free time, as revealed by IFFCO MD Dr U S Awasthi when this correspondent bumped into him at the Airport. “We have a state office in Patna and during the day we are going to have a brainstorming session with them” said Dr Awasthi who was accompanied by both his HR Director R P Singh and Marketing Director Yogendra Kumar.

“Can’t say no to Sunil if we have to operate in Bihar”, said Awasthi in a lighter vein thereby underlining the unique bonhomie possible only in the co-op business model where leaders forget their caste and creed, religion and political affiliation to be one on occasions.

No wonder, one could see Dileep Sanghani, a hardcore BJP leader who had been a former colleague of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Gujarat days, exchanging greetings with Tejashwi Yadav, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and a hardline RJD man. Tejashwi came to greet Sunil, an MLC and Chief Whip of RJD on the auspicious occasion of the latter’s house warming party, a day prior to his son’s marriage. Sunil has been allotted a sprawling bungalow in Patna owing to his political elevation.

Since the celebrations are scheduled for the evening, cooperators are using day time for holding meetings. The apex body of co-ops NCUI held a meeting in Patna where a majority of its Board members were present. Similarly, Nafed led by its Chairman Bijender Singh held a meeting on Wednesday at Lemon Tree, a posh property in Patna.

“Today you can meet cooperators from various parts of the country in Patna. We can find cooperators from Kashmir to Kanyakumari”, said Sunil who is rated as one of the finest hosts in cooperative circles.

Indian Cooperative found cooperators from Goa, Gujarat, Punjab, Uttarakhand, UP, MP and extreme south mingling with each other and enjoying delicious Bihari dish Litti-Chokha, among others.

The three-day function has several attractions including a visit to native place of Sunil, a remote village where rural life could be seen in full glory. Several of the women cooperators which included the likes of Arti Biseria and Savitri Singh could be seen enjoying the typical Bihari customs on the occasion.