The Congress on Thursday staged a walkout from the assembly over amendments brought in by the government to the Gujarat Cooperative Societies Act. They had demanded that the amendments be pulled back.

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Congress said that the amendments were nothing but an effort to privatize cooperatives in the society. Congress MLA Virji Thummar said that institutions like Amul were the results of a strong cooperative movement in Gujarat. "The amendments allow the government to conduct elections in cooperative bodies. Earlier this was done by the collector of the respective district. If the election was not conducted properly, the collector could also be suspended. Now, there is no one to keep an eye on what the state does," said Thummar.

He said with the new amendment, the government would be involved in elections in such societies and it is nothing but an effort to privatize it.

The bill was eventually passed by the state in the absence of the Opposition. Meanwhile, energy minister Saurabh Patel announced that farmers in districts that received little or no rain will get two additional hours of electricity for farming. Patel who made the announcement in the assembly said that this was being done to benefit farmers as the state had received scattered rains this monsoon with some areas getting less rain than others. The additional supply would mean the state exchequer will have to cough up anywhere between Rs 300 to Rs 500 crore to subsidise the same.