Vikhe Patil panel routed in Rahata sugar mill polls

Nashik: The panel backed by state revenue minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil managed to win just one of the 19 seats in the Shree Ganesh Cooperative Sugar Factory elections.The remaining 18 seats in the Rahata-based factory were won by the panel backed by former MPCC chief Balasaheb Thorat, who interestingly had the support of BJP leader Vivek Kolhe, son of Kopargaon MLA Snehalata.The results are being seen as a massive blow to the minister, who had been controlling the mill over the past decade, as most voters belong to Shirdi assembly assembly constituency, which he represents. The Vikhe Patil-backed panel’s defeat also brings to the fore the internal squabble among top BJP leaders of the district. Last month, BJP MLC from Ahmednagar, Ram Shinde had accused the minister of covertly working against him in the Jamkhed APMC elections. Vikhe Patil and his son, Ahmednagar MP Sujoy as well as the Thorat-Kolhe combine had aggressively campaigned in the run up to the polls. Thorat had called upon voters to defeat Vikhe Patil’s panel not only to ensure transparent operation of the management but also to ensure the safe future of the mill. “There has been complete mismanagement in the functioning of the sugar mill due to which its existence was at stake. Farmers were disgruntled due to payment related issues and shareholders were unhappy with the management’s style of functioning. The election results clearly reflected the ire of the voters against the present management. We were confident of our panel’s landslide victory,” Kolhe told TOI, adding that cooperative elections are not fought on party lines and thus he had joined hands with the former MPCC chief.A senior district leader of the BJP said that some leaders opposed to Vikhe Patil had called Kolhe to congratulate him. “This defeat should be a wake up call for Vikhe Patil and his son. It is important that the duo takes all party leaders into confidence. If this does not happen, the BJP’s prospects in next year’s Lok Sabha and assembly elections look bleak,” he said.Assistant returning officer for the polls and Rahata tehsildar, Amol More confirmed the results. A total of 7,300 voters, including farmers who supply sugarcane to the factory, mill employees and one member each from primary cooperative societies of the taluka had cast their votes in the June 17 election.
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