The NCUI headquarters at Siri Fort Road in Delhi wore a festive look as co-operators from across the country came to file nominations for a berth in the Governing Council of the highest body of co-operative in the country.
Dileep Saghani, the veteran co-operator from Gujarat whose name as the next President is a well-known fact, was one of the first to file nomination before the Returning Officer Sunil Kumar on Tuesday.
The outgoing President Dr Chandra Pal Singh Yadav, Nafed Chairman Bijender Singh, COBI Chairman G H Amin and Biscomaun Chairman Sunil Singh were some of the others who filed their nominations on Tuesday.
Talking to Indian Cooperative Biscomaun Chairman Sunil Singh said that it was after 9 months that he had left Patna. Covid lockdowns and Bihar election did not spare me these months but now I have decided to contest as well as win a GC seat, said a confident Sunil.
It bears recall that the elections at NCUI are going to be tough with at least five seats up for grabs. Those old timers who face tough fights include S N Sharma from Chattisgarh, Kiran Kaketi from Assam, Pramod Singh from Uttarakhand, among others. VPP Nair is challenging
Ashok Dabas while Sahakar Bharati’s Satish Chandra of Campco fame has also picked up the gauntlet.
Meanwhile, the election campaign is gaining momentum with closed door meetings and candidates dialling voters across the country. The votes are scheduled to be cast on 23rd November, according to the election schedule recently made public by the Returning Officer.
From Bihar, besides Sunil Singh, Vishal Singh is also said to be interested in contesting for a seat in the GC. Indian Cooperative has learnt that both Chandra Pal and Bijender are eager to help him. But how will they do so is a moot question.
The entry of Sahakar Bharati in the race has added colour to the election this time, though the old timers led by the outgoing President and his team are confident of at least winning 15 seats in the new GC.
This time, in all likelihood, there is going to be voting in some of the state co-op unions as well. Breaking down the constituencies for readers’ benefit, there are nine seats from the state co-op unions, four from the Highest Contributors to Co-op Education Fund, one from the multi state co-op societies, one from Handloom, Handicraft, Labour, Fisheries and Tribal co-ops, one from sugar, housing, dairy and consumer, one from UCBs, one from state co-op banks and one from the Land Development Banks. NCUI’s Governing Council has 21 members including a government nominee and the Chief Executive.
The filling of nominations, which started from 17th will continue till 19th November 2020. Scrutiny of nominations will be held on 20th November 2020 and the list of eligible candidates after scrutiny will be out on the same day. Whereas withdrawal of nominations will take place on 21st November 2020 up to 5:00 PM, the publication of the final list of candidates after withdrawal will be released on 21st November 2020 at 6:00 PM.
Elections would be held on 23rd November 2020 at National Cooperative Union of India, 3-Siri Institutional Area, August Kranti Marg, New Delhi- 110016”, informs the election schedule.
It further reads that counting of votes would be done immediately after the poll and the result would be announced on the same day i.e. 23rd November 2020. The meeting of the newly elected GC members of NCUI to elect the office bearers would be done immediately after the declaration of results in the boardroom of NCUI.
Stay glued to www.indiancooperative to know the details of the candidates fighting for the top post and their chances at the voting scheduled for 23rd November.