The provisional list of eligible member institutions and their delegates for the election to the Governing Council of the National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI), scheduled for July 15, 2026, has been released on Tuesday evening.
Out of around 347 member institutions, nearly 150 have been declared eligible to participate in the election process. The final list of eligible voters and delegates is expected to be published on June 25.
Several prominent cooperative leaders figure in the provisional list, including Dileep Sanghani, Chandrapal Singh Yadav, Jyotindra Mehta, G.H. Amin, Mohan Kundariya, Meenesh Shah, H.K. Patil, Bipin Patel, Pravin Darekar, D.N. Thakur, Ram Iqbal Singh, Ajay Patel, Annasaheb Jolle, Vishal Singh, Mudit Verma, Balvir Singh, Mangaljit Rai, Jeen Potsangbam, Sanjiv Kusalkar, Prasad Dora, Sishpal Singh and Ashok Dabas.
The outgoing Vice President, Bijender Singh, is conspicuously absent from the list. Another high profile cooperator, former Chairman of Biscomaun Sunil Kumar Singh is also not there in the list. Chandrapal Singh Yadav, who earlier represented KRIBHCO, has emerged as a delegate from the Bundelkhand Krishi Utpadan Vipanan Sahakari Samiti of Uttar Pradesh.
Sources said around 220 delegate nominations were received, but many were declared ineligible mostly due to non-fulfilment of attendance and a very few (about six) due to non-payment of subscriptions. As a result, only around 150 delegates have found place in the provisional list.
Group-I: State Cooperative Unions seats likely to witness selective contests
Seven seats are to be filled from the State and Union Territory Cooperative Unions category. While Sunil Khatri of Delhi State Cooperative Union and G.H. Amin of Gujarat State Cooperative Union appear set to secure berths on the NCUI Governing Council, the remaining seats are likely to witness contests.
The Maharashtra-Goa-Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh constituency may witness a consensus rather than a contest, with BJP MLC Pravin Darekar and Sahakar Bharati leader Saurabh Sharma emerging as the prominent delegates.
Similarly, the Telangana-Kerala-Karnataka constituency and the Bihar-Odisha-West Bengal constituency may also see consensus candidates emerge. However, the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh-Uttarakhand-Uttar Pradesh constituency is expected to witness a contest, with speculation that outgoing NCUI director Pradeep Chaudhary and NCDC Governing Council member Dhananjay Singh could be among the contenders.
The North-East constituency is also expected to witness a closely fought election.
Group-II: Heavyweights Line Up for National Cooperative Federations Seats
Group-II comprises five seats representing national-level cooperative societies and federations, including IFFCO, KRIBHCO, NAFED, NCCF, NAFSCOB, NAFCUB, NCDFI and others.
A total of 16 delegates have emerged from this category, though only 13 are eligible to contest. Delegates from NCOL, NCEL and BBSSL can vote but are not eligible to contest the election.
The constituency features several heavyweight cooperative leaders, including Dileep Sanghani, Mohan Kundariya, H.K. Patil, Bipin Patel, Meenesh Shah, Vishal Singh and Ajay Patel. With a strong field in place, the contest is expected to be highly competitive and difficult to predict at this stage.
Group-III: State Federations Category may see limited competition in Some Segments
Group III comprises six seats representing various categories of state-level cooperative federations and societies. In Constituency No. 1, related to State Cooperative Banks, three delegates are eligible, including Odisha State Cooperative Bank Chairman T. Prasad Dora, Delhi State Cooperative Bank representative Naresh Kumar and Uttarakhand State Cooperative Bank Managing Director Pradeep Mehrotra.
In Constituency No. 2, representing SCARDBs, Gujarat SCARDB representative Aniruddhbhai B. Dave could secure a berth on the NCUI Governing Council if he decides to contest, as the other two delegates from the constituency, Adv. C.K. Shaji Mohan of Kerala SCARD Bank and R.K. Kulshrestha of UP SCARD Bank, are unlikely to enter the fray.
In Constituency No. 3, related to State Urban Cooperative Bank Federations and Credit Societies Federations, Gujarat Urban Cooperative Banks Federation Chairman Jyotindra Mehta appears well placed to secure a seat on the Governing Council if he contests. The other delegates, including H.K. Patil, Ajay Barmecha, Vemireddy Reddy, Sunil Gupta and others, are not expected to pose a significant challenge.
Constituency No. 4, representing State Cooperative Marketing Federations, may also witness a consensus rather than a contest. The delegates in this category include Dileep Sanghani, Tarlok Singh, Balmiki Tripathi and others.
However, Constituencies No. 5 and 6 are likely to witness contests due to the larger number of delegates. Constituency No. 5 has eight delegates, including Mudit Verma, while Constituency No. 6 has as many as 21 delegates, making the contests in these segments more competitive.
Group-IV: Multi-State Cooperative Societies set for High-Stakes Battle
Group-IV, representing Multi-State Cooperative Societies, is expected to witness some of the fiercest contests of the election. Two members are to be elected, one from the North and Eastern region and another from the Western and Southern region.
The North and Eastern constituency includes prominent delegates such as Ashok Dabas, Gurpartap Singh, Chandrapal Singh Yadav and D.N. Thakur, making it one of the most competitive races.
The Western and Southern constituency is equally significant, with delegates including Nandini Azad, Sadhana Jadhav, Arun Singh Tomar and Mangilal Danga among the prominent names in contention.
With several seasoned cooperative leaders in the fray, Group-IV is expected to be one of the most closely watched categories in the NCUI Governing Council elections.
(With inputs from Rohit Gupta, Principal Correspondent)