Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 5: A spate of alleged cooperative society scams in the state capital has put the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the defensive, threatening to dent its image ahead of the upcoming local body elections.

The party, which has served as the principal opposition in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation for the past two terms, now finds itself battling allegations of financial impropriety and internal discord.

The crisis deepened after the suicide of Anil Kumar, a sitting BJP councillor in the Corporation and president of a local cooperative society.

He reportedly took his own life following severe financial distress after the institution failed to return deposits.

His death has not only sparked emotional outrage within the party but also turned the spotlight on the functioning of a few BJP-linked cooperatives in the city.

Adding to the turbulence, M.S. Kumar, one of the party’s prominent faces in Thiruvananthapuram and a former state secretary, publicly alleged large-scale loan defaults by senior BJP leaders from another Society, of which he is a key office-bearer.

According to Kumar, loans worth over Rs one crore were taken by state- and district-level leaders and never repaid.

One senior leader allegedly owes Rs 40 lakh, while another has defaulted on Rs 35 lakh.

Kumar accused the party’s top brass, including state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar, of failing to act despite repeated complaints.

He has also threatened to release the names of all defaulters, claiming that a good number of those who failed to repay loans are BJP members.

His revelations, first reported by the CPI(M) party daily ‘Deshabhimani’, have created ripples within the BJP and given ammunition to the Left, which has accused the party of “moral and financial decay”.

The CPI(M) has demanded a detailed probe into the alleged misuse of cooperative institutions under political patronage.

With the BJP scrambling to contain the fallout, senior leaders are reportedly in talks with Kumar to withdraw his damaging Facebook post.

However, as the controversy widens, the cooperative scandals threaten to overshadow the party’s campaign and undermine its credibility in Kerala’s politically charged capital.

Meanwhile, in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, the CPI(M)’s State Education Minister V. Sivankutty has expressed confidence of a sweeping win, while the Congress-led UDF has already taken the early lead by announcing candidates in 64 of the 101 seats and launching its campaign.

Kumar’s allegations have left the BJP rattled, with damage-control efforts now underway.

With Zohran Mamdani now elected as the Mayor of New York, one of the most compelling backstories behind his rise to power has a strong Mumbai connection. His father, Mahmood Mamdani, was born in Mumbai in 1946, while his mother, acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair, shares deep creative and emotional ties with the city that inspired some of her most iconic works.

Nair’s groundbreaking 1988 film Salaam Bombay! not only put her on the global cinema map but also immortalised Mumbai’s street life and resilience on screen. The film’s success led her to establish the Salaam Baalak Trust, a non-profit organisation that continues to support the city’s street children even decades later.

Her 1984 documentary India Cabaret, too, was filmed in Mumbai, offering an unflinching look at the lives of women working in the city’s cabaret bars. For both Nair and Mamdani, Mumbai has remained a place of inspiration, intellectual engagement, and cultural belonging.

In interviews, Nair has often credited the city’s chaos, colour and contradictions for inspiring her cinematic voice. Whether capturing the streets of Byculla or the dance bars of Grant Road, her lens has consistently reflected Mumbai’s layered reality.

Mahmood Mamdani’s journey began in Mumbai before his family migrated to Kampala, Uganda, where he was raised. One of Africa’s foremost scholars of postcolonial thought, Mahmood’s work has bridged continents, addressing questions of identity, governance, and displacement.

Expelled from Uganda in 1972 by Idi Amin’s regime, he went on to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard University and later became a professor at Columbia University in New York. His acclaimed book Citizen and Subject (1996) remains a seminal work on postcolonial governance.

Despite his global academic footprint, Mamdani’s Mumbai origins are often noted in scholarly circles, a reminder of the city’s role in shaping thinkers who transcend borders.

Zohran Mamdani, born in 1991 in Kampala, grew up surrounded by these influences, a scholar father who questioned systems and a filmmaker mother who gave voice to the voiceless. The family moved to New York in 1999, where Mahmood joined Columbia University’s faculty. Zohran became a naturalised U.S. citizen in 2018 and has since risen as a progressive voice in American politics.

Married to Syrian artist Rama Sawaf Duwaji, Zohran represents a generation that embodies global citizenship while carrying forward his parents’ legacy of thought and empathy.

From Mahmood’s birth in Mumbai to Mira Nair’s cinematic tributes to the city, the Mamdani family’s story remains deeply entwined with Mumbai’s spirit, cosmopolitan, resilient, and unapologetically global. As Zohran makes his political mark in New York, Mumbai continues to echo in the values and vision that drive him.

New Delhi, Nov 5: It is a testament to the boundless potential of the cooperatives, Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Amit Shah, congratulated daily giant Amul and Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) for occupying the first two ranks among the top 10 cooperatives in the world.

In a landmark achievement for India’s cooperative sector, two of India’s leading cooperatives, Amul and IFFCO, have secured the first and second ranks in the global ranking for cooperatives, respectively.

In a post on X social media platform, HM Shah said, “A proud moment for Bharat! Heartiest congratulations to Amul and IFFCO for occupying the first two ranks among the top ten cooperatives in the world”.

“It is an honour to the tireless dedication of millions of women associated with Amul and farmers contributing to the IFFCO. It is also a testament to the boundless potential of the cooperatives, which is being transformed into a global model of empowerment and self-reliance by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” HM Shah posted.

Meanwhile, the India’s dairy sector is the backbone of rural livelihoods and a symbol of inclusive growth. As the largest milk producer in the world, India has combined farmer-led cooperatives, women’s participation and scientific practices to achieve remarkable progress.

Notably, while safeguarding existing gains, there is continued support to the sector through subsidies, credit facilities, R&D in fodder and animal health, among others, to ensure India’s dairy sector remains resilient, inclusive, and capable of meeting future domestic and international demand.

Moreover, the National Co-operative Exports Limited (NCEL), set up by the Government in 2023, has achieved the impressive milestone of exporting Rs 5,403.01 crore worth of agricultural commodities, including rice, fresh red onion, sugar, baby food, processed food, spices and tea.

Also, NCEL has been promoted by five leading co-operatives — Indian Farmers Fertiliser Co-operative Limited (IFFCO), Krishak Bharati Co-operative Limited (KRIBHCO), National Agricultural Co-operative Marketing Federation of India Limited (NAFED), Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF–Amul) and the National Co-operative Development Corporation (NCDC).