Amul Dairy gets new Chairman, Vice-Chairman 94 days after BJP established first-time majority
The announcement came 94 days after the results of the Amul Dairy polls were announced on September 12, two days after the polling was held for the eight blocks and one individual member of the Board of Directors on September 10.
Over three months after the BJP established its complete majority in the Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union– Amul Dairy, the election to the post of the Chairman and Vice-President was held on Monday. As per the mandate put forth by the BJP, Shabhesinh Parmar of Virpur block was elected as Chairman unopposed while Vijay Patel was elected as Vice President.
The announcement came 94 days after the results of the Amul Dairy polls were announced on September 12, two days after the polling was held for the eight blocks and one individual member of the Board of Directors on September 10. The election on Monday saw Shabhesinh — a retired army man– tipping three front runners of the BJP to the post, coming off as a surprise to most of the 11 Board of Directors. Among the names in the reckoning for the post was Priya Parmar, daughter of former Chairman Ramsinh Parmar, whose switch over to the BJP from the Congress in 2017 had weakened the Congress hold in the dairy.
Apart from Priya Parmar, former Chairman Vipul Patel as well as Rajesh Pathak from Balasnior block– who is also credited for the thumping win of the BJP in the Dairy, were considered. Incidentally, Pathak, Priya Parmar as well as Shabhesinh were among the four BJP candidates, who had won the elections unopposed in September from their respective blocks of Balasinor, Virpur and Thasra.
After taking over the mantle on Monday, Shabhesinh said, “It is for the first time that Virpur block has been given the Chairman’s post… I will take it as a full responsibility and give my best for the development of the dairy in my tenure of two-and-a-half-years.”
Vice-Chairman Patel, who is an individual member and had won the September polls by one vote, said that the aim of the new board will be to work together. “We will ensure that we work together as leading Amul, which has been a progressive dairy and a leading cooperative in the world, comes with a lot of responsibility. We will work for the welfare of the cattle farmers, taking them into confidence…”
The BJP had scripted history in the September elections of Amul Dairy when it won seven out of the nine blocks that went to polls. Four BJP candidates had already been elected unopposed, thus allowing the BJP to gain control on 11 out of the total 13 blocks (including the individual member seat) of the board of directors, establishing complete majority for the first time. Vijay Patel was separately elected as an individual member. Congress had managed to retain Borsad and win Kapadvanj by 12 and 11 votes respectively,
Aditi Raja is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, stationed in Vadodara, Gujarat, with over 20 years in the field. She has been reporting from the region of Central Gujarat and Narmada district for this newspaper since 2013, which establishes her as a highly Authoritative and Trustworthy source on regional politics, administration, and critical socio-economic and environmental issues.
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