Satish Patel is chairman, G B Solanki elected VC

Vadodara: The political drama over the election of the chairman and vice chairman of the Baroda District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union better known as Baroda Dairy ended with BJP candidates for both posts winning uncontested. The polls have already been postponed once when the returning officer did not turn up for the board meeting amidst distinct possibility of rebellion within the BJP camp.On Monday, BJP district unit president Satish Patel and G B Solanki were elected as the chairman and vice chairman. The state BJP had given a mandate for the duo after hectic rounds of parlays with the directors of the dairy cooperative. The dairy has been facing uncertainty since January this year after the then chairman Dinesh Patel aka Dinumama submitted his resignation following an agitation by dairy farmers which was led by Savli BJP MLA Ketan Inamdar. Solanki who was the vice chairman at the time held charge for some time, but he too tendered his resignation. In April, Satish Patel and Kirtansinh Maharaul, a director who had switched sides from Congress to BJP, were appointed as chairman and vice chairman with around two months remaining for their term to end.The exercise for electing the new chairman began in the end of last month. The elections were scheduled on June 24, but could not take place as the returning officer did not arrive amidst hectic politics. Dinesh Patel and Solanki were in no mood to accept the party’s mandate and a rebellion was evident if polls took place. The polls were rescheduled and the BJP top brass in the state including state president C R Paatil intervened. Paatil met directors of the dairy in Ahmedabad earlier and during his visit to the city on Sunday. State BJP vice president Gordhan Zadafiya also visited the city on Saturday to take sense of the directors regarding the elections. The party eventually gave a mandate for Satish Patel and G B Solanki who were elected uncontested on Monday. The 13-member board has 11 members supporting BJP while there are two from the Congress. The newly elected chairman and vice chairman will hold posts for a tenure of 2.5years.
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