Kolhapur's long-running Gokul Dairy leadership fight ended on Tuesday, November 10, with former Nationalist Congress Party MLA Rajesh Patil elected Chairman of the Kolhapur District Co-operative Milk Producers' Union by 16 votes to 13, according to IANS and PTI reports. He defeated Shashikant Patil-Chuyekar, the candidate of Congress leader Satej Patil's panel.

A total of 29 directors — 25 elected members and four government-nominated directors — voted, and all four nominated directors backed Patil, the reports said. Returning Officer Mosami Chougule chaired the meeting. BJP MP Dhananjay Mahadik said the 15-day deadlock over quorum was resolved with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's intervention, and added that the chairman's post would be held by the NCP for the first year.

The result is the latest development in a contest Awaaz Punjab has been tracking: the foundational board elections on October 18-19 gave Satej Patil's panel 13 of the 25 elected seats against 12 for the MahaYuti-backed panel, neither side could form the board alone, and the state government then appointed nominated directors with voting rights — a move the opposition alleged was aimed at capturing the cooperative, an allegation the government denied, saying it was needed to break the quorum impasse.

On Monday, the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court directed that the chairman's election proceed as scheduled on November 10, while stipulating that the overall process remains subject to the court's final ruling. That means Patil's chairmanship, though declared on Tuesday, could still be affected by the pending court decision.

Patil, a former MLA from Chandgad in Kolhapur district, now takes charge of one of Maharashtra's most influential milk cooperatives. What happens next depends on the High Court's final ruling and on whether the rival panel accepts the result or steps up its legal and political challenge.