BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has come in for sharp criticism from the opposition BJP for deliberately holding up elections to registered cooperative societies. Accusing the ruling BJD of conspiring to defer elections to cooperative bodies, State BJP president Samir Mohanty said this is not the first time that a thing is happening. The last election to cooperative bodies was held after a gap of 20 months.
Addressing the working committee meeting of BJP Cooperative Cell here on Sunday, Mohanty said the sector plays a pivotal role in the economic growth of the State. He highlighted the steps taken by the NDA Government at Centre to strengthen the cooperative sector which goes hand-in-hand with the agriculture.
Expressing concern over the large-scale mismanagement of cooperative societies, Lok Sabha MP and former union minister Jual Oram underscored the need of independence of the managing committees.
The meeting chaired by convenor of the cell Golak Mohapatra was also addressed by BJP general secretaries Manas Mohanty and Ranjan Patel. They urged the Government to conduct the election without further delay.
Though the terms of all the elected committees of cooperative societies in the State have expired by February 20, the Government is yet to issue notification for election. Even the post of commissioner of the Odisha State Cooperative Election Commission has not been filled up for a long time. Election to the cooperative societies can not be conducted without the superintendence of the Cooperative Election Commissioner.