India, March 2 -- The election to appoint the new chairman of the Malegaon Cooperative Sugar Factory was postponed on Sunday after the designated election observer suddenly fell ill just before the voting process was to begin.

The board of directors had convened at the factory premises to elect a successor to the late Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar when Vaibhav Navadkar, appointed as the official observer for the election, developed health complications. Since he was unable to continue supervising the proceedings, officials said the meeting was adjourned without initiating the voting process.

The chairman's post has remained vacant since Pawar's death in a plane crash near Baramati on January 28.

Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar, ...