Pune: The much-awaited elections for 29,429 cooperative societies across Maharashtra, which were delayed due to the state’s Assembly elections, will now take place in the new year.
The Cooperative Election Authority is expected to announce the election schedule in the first week of January, following the completion of voter list preparations.
The state’s cooperative societies have been instructed to submit updated voter lists by December 31, and the election schedules for the societies that comply will be released soon after.
In the aftermath of the Lok Sabha elections, the Cooperative Election Authority had planned to hold elections on October 1, but this was delayed due to the ongoing Assembly elections.
Many officials and staff from the cooperative department had been assigned duties during the Assembly election process.
Now that the election code of conduct has ended, elections will be held for a total of 29,443 cooperative societies across the state. These include 42 societies in Class A, 1,716 in Class B, 12,250 in Class C, and 15,435 in Class D.
In the first phase, elections for 7,109 cooperative societies were already underway. For societies with 250 or fewer members, as well as those where court orders mandated elections, the process has been completed.
Only the appointment of presidents and vice-presidents remains, and the authority will now collect information regarding the completion of these appointments.
The elections are set to begin at the start of the new year, with voter lists being updated at the district level. Once the lists are submitted by December 31, the election schedules for those societies will be promptly announced.
Anil Kawade, Commissioner of the Cooperative Election Authority, stated: “Due to the Assembly elections, the cooperative elections were delayed until December 31. Now that the election program has concluded, we have instructed the societies to finalize their voter lists. Elections will be announced in the new year once the state government issues the necessary orders.”