MUMBAI, Nov. 8 -- Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday defended his government's decision to amend the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, saying the move was necessitated by the "legal impasse" over the election of the Kolhapur District Cooperative Milk Producers' Union's chairperson. Fadnavis claimed that the government had no interest in taking control of the cooperative, popularly known as the Gokul Cooperative, and was merely trying to resolve the statutory deadlock. Meanwhile, Congress leader Satej Patil said he would go ahead with the November 9 protest rally against the government's manoeuvre, which was directly "trampling on the mandate of farmers". The so-called impasse occurred after the panel backed by the Mahayuti won 12 seats in the Gokul Board elections held on October 18 while the Rajarshi Shahu Shetkari Samvichari Aghadi (RSSSA), the Congress-backed panel led by Satej Patil, won 13. The Mahayuti members subsequently stayed away from the meeting to elect the chairperson, leading to the quorum remaining unfulfilled. Immediately after this, and despite huge criticism, the Mahayuti government on Friday issued an ordinance to amend the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act. The amendment will increase the government-nominated directors on cooperative bodies with a turnover of over Rs.500 crore from two to five and also give them voting rights. So far, government-nominated directors never had voting rights. This move will pave the way for the Mahayuti-backed panel to elect its own chairperson although it lost the elections to the RSSSA. After Satej Patil approached the Kolhapur bench of the Bombay high court, the court directed all 25 members to be present at the next meeting on November 10, which, in effect, fulfills the quorum and allows the election to proceed. However, Fadnavis, while speaking to the media in Nagpur, said, "Although the court directed that the election be conducted on November 10, it has not waived the mandatory quorum requirement. Consequently, the election could again be stalled if one group boycotts the meeting." Legal experts said that if the 25 members did not attend, it would amount to contempt of court. Fadnavis stated that without a quorum after three meetings, a government administrator automatically takes over a cooperative body. To ensure elected representatives retain voting rights, the Maharashtra government granted voting rights to four government-nominated members. He claimed the cabinet acted on advice from the advocate-general and the law and judiciary department following concerns raised by ruling alliance leaders. However, a cooperation department official indicated the move proceeded despite internal administrative opposition. Fadnavis denied any political interest in controlling the institution, which covers around 5,000 voters, insisting intervention merely fulfilled its statutory governance obligations. He urged local leaders Hasan Mushrif, Vinay Kore, and Satej Patil to sit together and resolve the matter amicably. Rejecting claims that the Gokul controversy impacts broader state politics, Fadnavis highlighted the BJP's recent local council election victory. He also dismissed former CJI B R Gavai's legal opinion as one-sided, asserting it relied on facts from Satej Patil's camp while ignoring the critical quorum deadlock. Meanwhile, Satej Patil announced he would proceed with a planned protest rally in Kolhapur on Monday. Accusing the Mahayuti government of trampling upon the farmers' mandate, Patil asserted that the people of Kolhapur would not tolerate the decision....