Ahilyanagar bank poll: Ram Shinde says no one should push a separate agenda

As the process of filing forms for the Ahilyanagar District Central Cooperative Bank election began, new political alignments started forming in the district. With drought looming over the region, all parties have stepped up efforts to get the bank election held unopposed. Amid this, Legislative Council chairman Ram Shinde made it clear that no one would be allowed to push a separate personal agenda through the process.

Ram Shinde told a press conference, "The district bank belongs to everyone. Everyone should come together to give relief to farmers and the public caught in distress, but no one should impose a separate agenda of their own."

Earlier, senior leader Yashwantrao Gadakh had spoken of holding the bank election unopposed, after which activity in this direction picked up pace. On Sunday, at an all-party meeting held in Sangamner on the initiative of Balasaheb Thorat, initial agreement also emerged on holding the election unopposed. After this meeting, efforts are now on to reach a final decision through talks at the taluka level.

However, Ram Shinde was not present at this meeting, which raised questions over his role in the process of an unopposed election. Against this backdrop, Shinde clarified his position at the press conference, saying he had no objection to an unopposed election, but that the decision should be taken only after taking all concerned people into confidence. He said, "If everyone tries together, it will send a good message. But if someone tries to run an independent agenda, that is wrong. The district bank is the result of everyone's hard work, and its board of directors too must carry everyone along."

Shinde said the district is currently under the shadow of drought and farmers are struggling with financial hardship. In such circumstances, rather than triggering political confrontation over the bank election, there is a need to find a way through mutual understanding. He said the district bank is not merely a base of political power but an important cooperative institution linked to farmers, depositors and borrowers. The all-party meeting had also expressed the view that an unopposed election would send a good message in the cooperative sector. But when it comes to deciding on an unopposed poll, questions of how many seats go to whom, how much representation each faction gets, and how aspiring candidates will be accommodated will now become important.

At the Sangamner meeting, discussion took place on fielding candidates by consensus for some of the bank's 21 director seats. According to information received, discussions were held on finalising a formula for an unopposed outcome on seven seats, while the possibility of a separate panel was also indicated for the remaining 14 seats in the service society category. It also emerged that Thorat and Sujay Vikhe Patil were given the responsibility of coordination, though its final shape will become clear only after nominations and further taluka-level talks.

Thorat and the Vikhe faction, long-standing political rivals, coming together on one platform for the bank election is being seen as a major development in the cooperative sector's equations. But in this process, every taluka and every interested faction will need to be taken into confidence, or else there could be a situation where talk of an unopposed election runs on one side while actual election preparations continue on the other.

Asked directly whether he himself would contest, Ram Shinde did not make a direct announcement, but gave clear signals of his active participation. He said he had already indicated his active participation in the district bank election at the last annual general meeting. Two multi-purpose cooperative societies in the Karjat-Jamkhed area have passed resolutions in his name, and his name also figures in the voters' list of taluka representatives. Shinde said, "I had already spoken of active participation. Resolutions have been passed in my name, my name is also in the voters' list, so there is nothing wrong in there being talk of my activity. But in the cooperative sector, one has to move forward by taking everyone along."

On the bank's future, Shinde said it was important to focus on the bank staying stable and capable. The ordinary farmer should benefit from the bank, and the bank's role is also important for the other institutions in the cooperative sector. He said there is a need to carry forward the old traditions of the cooperative movement, and the bank election should not be seen merely as a fight for political prestige. He said different sections should get representation on the board of directors, and no single faction or individual should dominate it.

Shinde also said several aspiring candidates were approaching him. He said, "Several people are also working with me. I am telling them too that once a decision is taken for the district and something is finalised with everyone's agreement, we will have to move ahead accordingly." He made clear that the final strategy of the meeting held under Thorat's leadership had not yet reached him, so he would be able to clarify his further role only after getting official information on what was actually decided at the meeting.

Shinde said that after the Sangamner meeting, the way is now open for taluka-level meetings, and during this it is necessary that all major leaders hold talks and that a clear message of the meeting's decision reaches all interested people. He said, "Those under whose leadership the meeting was held should coordinate with everyone and take the election forward. The agenda or strategy of yesterday's meeting has not reached me yet, so it is necessary to move forward only after taking everyone into confidence."

Without opposing an unopposed election, Ram Shinde has given a clear message to take everyone along and that no separate agenda will be allowed, which is why his role in the coordination process led by Thorat is now seen as significant. On the other hand, the challenge of giving satisfactory representation to aspiring candidates and different factions also remains. Even as efforts continue to hold the district bank election unopposed, the real test of dividing the seats is still to come, and the entire district is watching closely.