BJP-NCP Sugar Mills To Receive Rs 487 Crore Funds As Opposition-Linked Mills Lose Out

The Maharashtra cooperation department has dropped from its list of margin fund beneficiaries five cooperative sugar mills associated with the opposition leaders and added in their place those linked to the politicians of the ruling BJP and NCP for an award of Rs 487 crore funds.

This decision was made during a cabinet meeting held soon after the Lok Sabha election results.

The ruling alliance of Shiv Sena, BJP and NCP managed to win only 17 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra out of the total 48, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi performed better by bagging 31 seats.

The government revised the list by removing the names of the sugar mills controlled by opposition leaders who did not support the ruling alliance during the elections, and replaced them with five other units which have association with the Mahayuti.

The new additions in the list are: Shetkari Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana in Ausa tehsil of Latur district, Vishwasrao Naik Cooperative Sugar Mill in Sangli district, Padmabhushan Krantiveer Dr Nagnath Nayakawadi Hutatma Kisan Ahir Cooperative Sugar Mill in Sangli, Ashok Cooperative Sugar Mill in Shrirampur tehsil of Ahmednagar district and Shri Vitthal Cooperative Sugar Mill in Pandharpur tehsil if Solapur district.

The margin money funds will be disbursed by the National Cooperative Development Corporation through the Maharashtra government.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the state government offered its guarantee to several cooperative sugar mills to make margin funds worth Rs 2,265 crore available. Some of these sugar mills were controlled by the MLAs and leaders belonging to the opposition parties.

The opposition parties criticised the decision, calling it an attempt to lure their leaders into aligning with the ruling dispensation.

As per the revised list, Latur-based sugar mill controlled by BJP MLA Abhimanyu Pawar is expected to receive Rs 18.84 crore, while a mill in Sangli, controlled by Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, is set to receive Rs 121 crore.

The support received by the state government indicates that Vaibhav Nayakawadi, who controls a mill in Sangli, may choose to support the BJP or the Ajit Pawar-led NCP.

Abhijeet Patil, who already controls four sugar mills, recently gained control of the Shri Vitthal Cooperative Sugar Mill in Pandharpur tehsil of Solapur district and has shown political ambitions. He plans to contest from the Pandharpur assembly constituency, but it's unclear whether he will run on the BJP or NCP ticket. His mill will receive Rs 219 crore, the highest among the five sugar mills.

The Vishwasrao Naik Cooperative Sugar Mill in Walwa tehsil of Sangli is controlled by Shirala MLA Mansing Naik, who has been close to NCP (SP) state president Jayant Patil.

However, in recent years, Naik has maintained a low profile and distanced himself from Patil.

According to political observers, "Naik must have given clear signals of his allegiance with the NDA and earned Rs 53 crore in the form of margin amount."

The case of Ashok Cooperative Sugar Mill case from Shrirampur tehsil is more interesting. Although the mill is in Shrirampur, most of the sugarcane cultivators attached to it are from the neighbouring Nevasa assembly constituency. According to the government order, the mill will receive Rs 75 crore.

Former cabinet minister and MLA Shankarrao Gadakh currently represents it and has already declared their association with Shiv Sena (UBT).

Sources close to Bhanudas Murkute, former MLA and chairman of Ashok cooperative sugar mill, said, "Murkute buys sugarcane from farmers in Nevasa, which is a very effective tool to influence the voters. Having control over a sugar mill is considered to be more powerful than winning the assembly election. There is a chance of the Mahayuti government offering Murkute margin amount and in return, expecting his support to the NDA candidate against Gadakh."