Politics
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BJP-backed panels lose Bardoli sugar board seats
The Indian Express··16 Sept
A farmers’ panel ended the BJP’s 20-year hold on Bardoli Sugar in August cooperative polls. Of 15 seats, the Kisan Parivartan Panel won 13 and the BJP-backed Sahkar Panel won two. Defeated candidates included Bardoli MLA Ishvar Parmar. At Sayan Sugar, the BJP-backed Vikas Panel won six of 18 seats while Parivartan took nine and Independents three.
Prism
What It Means For You
- South Gujarat cane growers voting in co-op boards are seeing party-backed panels lose ground.
- Bardoli Sugar’s board majority now sits with a panel that mixed BJP rebels and Congress names.
- Sayan members protested alleged party mandates for chairman and vice-chairman posts on September 2.
What's Happening
- The BJP had dominated boards of Gujarat’s 13 operational cooperative sugar factories for at least a decade.
- Six cooperatives went to the polls in August; Bardoli and Sayan were the clearest setbacks.
- Surat district BJP president Bharat Rathod said a mandate system was added to discipline party rebels.
How Large Bardoli Sugar Is
- Bardoli Sugar, founded in 1955 as Gujarat’s first cooperative sugar factory, turns over about Rs 600-800 crore a year.
- Outgoing vice-chairman Bhavesh Patel said political interference in co-op polls has risen in recent years.
- The BJP retained Bharuch, Gandevi and Kamrej boards even as internal divisions showed in seat counts.
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