The BJP-Shiv Sena controlled Jalgaon District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation has accused the previous management of being involved in financial misappropriation of over Rs 1.6 crore.
The previous management of the Jalgaon District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation (JDCMPF) was headed by Mandakani Khadse, wife of NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) MLC Eknath Khadse.
The BJP-Sena combine had defeated the Khadse group in the JDCMPF polls in December 2022.
Mangesh Chavan, the current JDCMPF chairman and BJP MLA from Chalisgaon constituency, told TOI that the JDCMPF had incurred a loss of over Rs 6 crore between April and November 2022.
According to him, the present Jalgaon District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation management has lodged a complaint with the Jalgaon police.
“The state cooperative department, the Jalgaon police and the JDCMPF audit team are carrying out separate investigations into the alleged financial misappropriation,” added the Chalisgaon BJP MLA.
Chavan claimed the present management has reduced the losses significantly after it took over the reins of the federation.
Khade vehemently refuted Chavan’s allegations. “It’s political vendetta that the BJP-Sena combine is resorting to against me and my party to tarnish our image before the next year’s general elections. Such allegations would not affect NCP’s poll preparations,” Khadse told TOI.
According to the NCP MLC the present management is procuring milk from dairy farmers at Rs 24-26 per litre, unlike the previous management that used to buy at Rs 34 a litre.
“The dairy farmers associated with JDCMPF are incurring financial losses under the present management,” claimed Khadse.
The allegations against Khadse come at a time when the Sharad Pawar faction of NCP is working overtime to consolidate its base in the three districts of Jalgaon, Dhule and Nandurbar before the next year’s Lok Sabha polls.
Both NCP chief Sharad Pawar and state party president Jayant Patil had requested Khade to take the lead in strengthening the party in these districts.
Patil and Khadse recently led a farmers’ protest in Jalgaon against the state government’s alleged step-motherly treatment towards farmers of the state.
