Nashik : Tight contest on cards for sugar factory polls
Northern Ahilyanagar’s Rahata and Sangamner talukas brace for political churn as key sugar factory board elections near. Managed by Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and Balasaheb Thorat, the May 9 and 11 polls may rekindle rivalries after recent upsets. Once uncontested, the contests now reflect shifting alliances and growing political stakes in Maharashtra’s influential cooperative sector.
Nashik: Two neighbouring talukas in northern Ahilyanagar district are preparing for significant political activity following the announcement of elections for two cooperative sugar factories.
The factories, managed by WRD minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and former Minister Balasaheb Thorat, will hold elections on May 9 and 11 respectively.
The political landscape is expected to experience considerable movement over the next month as strategic moves unfold following the cooperative department’s initiation of the electoral process from Thursday.
“The election of the board of directors for Padmashree Dr Vitthalrao Vikhe Patil Cooperative Sugar Factory in Pravaranagar in Rahata taluka will be held on May 9, while for the board of directors of Maharshi Bhausaheb Thorat Cooperative Sugar Factory in Sangamner taluka it is on May 11. The board of directors’ panel, led by the political heavyweights, was elected in the respective factories unopposed for the last
several times. But now, especially after Balasaheb Thorat lost the assembly election at the hands of Amol Khatal, it will be interesting to watch the developments,” noted a political analyst.
The Vikhe Patil sugar factory, recognised as Asia’s oldest cooperative institution, shares regional influence with the equally prominent Thorat sugar factory. Each facility has 21 directors’ positions up for election. Despite their well-known political rivalry, these neighbouring leaders of the same district traditionally avoided interference in each other’s territories.
However, the 2023 Shree Ganesh Cooperative Sugar Factory election in Rahata taluka marked a shift when former MPCC President Thorat supported BJP leader Vivek Kolhe, opposing Vikhe Patil, resulting in the latter’s loss of control over the factory after a decade. This development led to subsequent political consequences. Despite Sujay Vikhe Patil’s defeat by NCP (SP) Nilesh Lanke in the Lok Sabha election in 2024, the Vikhe Patil faction successfully supported Shiv Sena candidate Amol Khatal against Thorat’s bid for a ninth assembly term in Nov 2024.
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Source : The Times Of India
