The Maharashtra Government has postponed the elections of thousands of co-operative societies and institutions in the state by a year. This was decided through a special session of the cabinet in Nagpur.
Actually, as required by the 97th amendment in the Constitution, elections of cooperative institutions in Maharashtra were due by the end of this year.
Sources familiar with the cooperative affairs in the state say the postponement of the elections has enabled the existing management boards of the cooperative societies to work out their strategies in order to preserve their positions.
According to official sources, the elections had formerly been rigged through corrupt means and shall now be put under a proper election authority. The government, however, had not been able to form the required authority so far, the sources added.
The postponement will benefit the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) followers as many of them are in power in cooperative societies in Maharashtra.
It is noteworthy that Maharashtra boasts the largest network of cooperative institutions in the country.
According to the leaders of the ruling parties in the state, considering the next parliamentary polls and the 2014 assembly elections, the postponement of the cooperative elections would help them leverage their influence in the cooperatives for their political goals.
