Hasan Mushrif alleges a conspiracy after Gokul defeat

The election for the 25-member board of the Kolhapur District Cooperative Milk Producers Union ended with 13 seats going to the panel led by Congress legislator Satej “Bunty” Patil. The Mahayuti-backed group won 12 seats, leaving Patil’s side with a majority at the dairy federation commonly known by its consumer brand, Gokul.

The result removed executive control from the state’s governing alliance and ended Navid Mushrif’s term as chairman during the final year of the previous board. Navid is the son and political successor of Hasan Mushrif, a senior Maharashtra cabinet minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader.

Hasan Mushrif spoke about the election publicly for the first time at an agro-industrial event held to mark the opening of the regional sugarcane-crushing season. He said voting patterns at individual booths indicated cross-voting and organised political activity behind the defeat. Mushrif described the outcome as a “pre-determined conspiracy” and said it reflected internal sabotage rather than a rejection by farmers.

Mushrif, who has represented his legislative constituency in six successive state assembly terms and oversees medical education in Maharashtra, also said electoral losses required leaders to reconnect with their grassroots base. His comments came as the contest exposed divisions among political groups operating through the state’s cooperative dairy and sugar sectors.

Other Mahayuti figures offered different explanations for the loss. Maharashtra Health Minister Prakash Abitkar said excessive confidence had weakened the campaign and suggested that the alliance had taken cooperative delegates and primary milk societies for granted. Dhananjay Mahadik, a member of the Rajya Sabha, pointed to delays in selecting candidates and the limited time available for direct contact with voting delegates. He also accused Patil’s campaign of spreading misleading claims.

Mahadik said the 12 Mahayuti board members would act as a constructive opposition. He said they would support measures benefiting the cooperative while contesting decisions that harmed dairy farmers.

Gokul’s board oversees a federation with annual turnover of more than ₹3,960 crore. Its milk supply network includes more than 8,000 village primary cooperative societies and about 440,000 smallholder producers. The federation collects, chills and processes milk for markets including Mumbai and Pune. Its operations also include procurement prices, cattle-feed subsidies and logistics contracts, all of which will fall under the new board’s oversight.