District bank elections: 15 seats unopposed in Sangli, 9 each in Satara and Ahilyanagar; polling for the rest on 1 and 2 November

The deadline to withdraw nominations in three western Maharashtra district central co-operative bank elections closed on Wednesday, 21 October, settling who has been elected unopposed and who must face a vote. Each bank has a 21-member board. According to local newspapers, 15 seats went unopposed in Sangli, 9 in Satara and 9 in Ahilyanagar. Polling for the remaining seats is on Sunday, 1 November in Satara and Sangli, and on Monday, 2 November in Ahilyanagar. Votes in all three will be counted on Tuesday, 3 November.

The three banks at a glance

• Satara: 21 seats; 9 unopposed; 28 candidates for the remaining 12; polling 1 November (8 am to 5 pm), counting 3 November.
• Sangli: 21 seats; 15 unopposed; 13 candidates for the remaining 6; polling 1 November, counting 3 November.
• Ahilyanagar: 21 seats; most reports say 9 unopposed and 12 going to polls (one report says 8 and 13); polling 2 November, counting 3 November.

Satara: Udayanraje, Shivendrasinhraje and Ramraje out of the race

Several sitting directors in Satara withdrew because of a rule that bars anyone who has been a director for ten consecutive years from contesting again, eSakal, ETV Bharat and News18 Lokmat reported. Those who withdrew include MP Udayanraje Bhosale, Public Works Minister Shivendrasinhraje Bhosale, former Legislative Council chairman Ramraje Naik-Nimbalkar, Rajya Sabha MP Nitin Patil and former MLA Prabhakar Gharge. Ramraje had pulled out on Monday, 19 October. Former co-operation minister Balasaheb Patil and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) state president Shashikant Shinde also withdrew.

The directors elected unopposed, by constituency, as reported by eSakal and ETV Bharat:

• Satara taluka societies: Sarjerao Sawant
• Wai taluka societies: Satyajit Veer
• Khatav taluka societies: Nandkumar More
• Purchase-and-sale unions: Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Makarand Patil
• Agro-processing: MLA Dr Atul Bhosale
• Urban banks and credit societies: former MP Ranjitsinh Naik-Nimbalkar
• Housing societies: Kaka Dhumal (in place of Udayanraje Bhosale)
• Women's reserved (2 seats): Rutuja Patil and Mangal Patil

One Sarkarnama report, however, puts the count at 12 unopposed and 9 contested, and lists the Scheduled Caste and nomadic tribes seats as unopposed too. eSakal's list shows more than one candidate still standing for both of those reserved seats. The election schedule set 22 October for the final list of candidates and the allotment of symbols.

eSakal and Sarkarnama reported that the Mahayuti partners had agreed on how to share ten seats. According to eSakal, the formula is five for the BJP, three for the NCP and two for the Shiv Sena. eSakal also reported that the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) withdrew all its candidates except Vitthal Gole in the Jawali societies seat. The main contests named in reports:

• Patan societies: Guardian Minister Shambhuraj Desai vs Satyajitsinh Patankar
• Maan societies: Rural Development Minister Jaykumar Gore, Shekhar Gore and Manoj Pol (three-way)
• Phaltan societies: Sanjivraje Naik-Nimbalkar vs Samsherasinh Naik-Nimbalkar
• Jawali societies: Vitthal Gole vs Dnyandev Ranjane
• Industrial, weavers' and labour societies: Chandrakant Jadhav vs Sunil Wagh
• Other Backward Classes: Yogesh Phadtare vs Sandeep Pachangane

According to Pudhari and Navarashtra, the Satara bank has 2,019 voters in all.

Sangli: 15 directors unopposed, 13 candidates for six seats

After a seat-sharing settlement among leaders of several parties, these 15 were elected unopposed (Pudhari, Agrowon, Sarkarnama): MLA Dr Vishwajit Kadam, Amol Babar, Mahendra Lad, Devraj Patil, Viraj Naik, Tanaji Patil, Rahul Mahadik, Prithviraj Patil, Satish Deshmukh, Randhir Naik, Vaibhav Shinde, Pooja Patil, Varsha Sawant, Aparna Deshmukh and Nitin Honrao.

The six seats going to polls, and the candidates:

• Jat societies: MLA Gopichand Padalkar vs Vinod Pawar
• Tasgaon societies: former MP Sanjay (Kaka) Patil vs former MLA Suman Patil
• Kavathemahankal societies: former minister Ajitrao Ghorpade vs T. V. Patil
• Miraj societies: Annasaheb Kore vs Anil Shegunshe
• Nomadic and denotified tribes: Sambhaji Kachare vs Amit Parekar
• Scheduled Castes: three candidates, including K. D. Kamble

What Jayant Patil said about the chief minister's call

NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) MLA Jayant Patil said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had called him personally to ask that the bank election be made unopposed, and that he agreed, Sarkarnama reported. Patil said Mahayuti leaders were then brought into the effort as well.

At a joint press conference with BJP district president Samrat Mahadik, Patil gave two reasons: drought conditions in the district, and his position that party politics should be kept out of the co-operative sector (Pudhari, eSakal). He said he regretted that not everyone could be given a chance, and that the bank would focus on giving more financial support to farmers in drought-hit areas and in areas that have newly received irrigation water. Mahadik said the BJP had been fully prepared to contest, but the chief minister's view was that an election was not appropriate during a drought; he said he then held talks with Guardian Minister Chandrakant Patil, Jayant Patil and Vishwajit Kadam.

Former minister Sadabhau Khot questioned the process. Sarkarnama reported him as saying that seats in well-watered areas were settled unopposed while the contests were left in drought-hit areas.

Ahilyanagar: three camps in the fray

According to Pudhari, Sarkarnama, Deshdoot and I Love Nagar, 9 of the 21 seats went unopposed and 12 will go to polls. Navarashtra reported 8 unopposed and 13 contested. These eight names appear in every report:

• Rahata: former MP Dr Sujay Vikhe Patil
• Pathardi: MLA Monika Rajale
• Shevgaon: former zilla parishad president Rajashri Ghule
• Kopargaon: Bipin Kolhe
• Shrirampur: Karan Sasane
• Nevasa: former minister Shankarrao Gadakh
• Sangamner: Ranjit Deshmukh
• Non-agricultural societies: Sachin Jagtap

Reports differ on the ninth name. Sarkarnama and Deshdoot name MLA Akshay Kardile, while I Love Nagar names MLA Ashutosh Kale from the agriculture-allied constituency. This will be settled only when the election office publishes its final list.

According to Sarkarnama and Deshdoot, the seats going to polls are the taluka society seats of Akole, Shrigonda, Parner, Nagar, Rahuri, Karjat and Jamkhed, plus the two women's reserved seats and one seat each for Scheduled Castes and Tribes, Other Backward Classes, and Vimukta Jati and Nomadic Tribes.

Reports describe three camps in the contest:

• A panel led by Guardian Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and former minister Balasaheb Thorat.
• Four candidates announced by Legislative Council chairman Ram Shinde: Jyoti Prakash Shinde (Karjat), Sachin Ghumare (Jamkhed), Manjusha Gund (women's reserved) and Ajinath Hajare (Other Backward Classes).
• Candidates on eight seats under NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) MP Nilesh Lanke.

In the Shrigonda societies seat, former MLA Rahul Jagtap withdrew; Pudhari and I Love Nagar report a contest there between Pratapsinh Pachpute, brother of MLA Vikram Pachpute, and Dattatray Pansare. Deshdoot said three-way contests were possible for the women's reserved and Other Backward Classes seats. Which candidate belongs to which panel will be clear after symbols are allotted.

For farmers and account holders

• District central co-operative banks lend crop loans to farmers through village-level co-operative credit societies. The elected board of directors sets the bank's policies.
• Ordinary account holders do not vote in these elections. The voters are representatives of the member co-operative societies.
• The returning officer formally declares the unopposed winners and the final list of candidates. Final results will be known after counting on 3 November.

Sources: eSakal (Satara); ETV Bharat (Satara); Sarkarnama (Satara); Pudhari (Satara election schedule); News18 Lokmat (Satara); Pudhari (Sangli); Agrowon (Sangli); Sarkarnama (Sangli); eSakal (Sangli); Deshdoot (Ahilyanagar); Sarkarnama (Ahilyanagar); Pudhari (Ahilyanagar); I Love Nagar; Navarashtra (Ahilyanagar)