Cong, JD(S) vow to upend BJP’s plans for Karnataka’s milk sector after Shah said Nandini & Amul will work together

Nandini is the second largest dairy brand in the country after Amul in terms of turnover and owned by the Karnataka Cooperative Milk Federation (KMF).

Former CMs Siddaramaiah of the Congress and HD Kumaraswamy of the JD(S) have warned BJP leaders of serious consequences if the union government ever attempted to undermine Nandini and shovel it under Amul.

On Friday, speaking after opening a modern dairy unit at Mandya, Shah said “Amul and Nandini will work together towards establishing primary dairies in every village of Karnataka and in next three years there will not be a single village in Karnataka where primary dairy has not been established.”

Amul, he added, will give technical, cooperative sector and functioning support to the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) and Gujarat and Karnataka can together can work for the welfare of the milk producing farmers of the whole country.

The JD(S) and Congress have interpreted his statement to suggest attempts from the senior BJP leader, who hails from Gujarat, to make Nandini subservient to Amul. The BJP is ruling both Gujarat and Karnataka as well as the Centre and is trying to retain power in the southern state in the forthcoming assembly elections. The two Opposition parties have sought to project Shah’s proposal as a farmer vs BJP issue.

Kumaraswamy, in a series of tweets on Sunday, said the union minister was attempting to mete out great injustice to Kannadigas. “Merging Nandini with Amul cannot happen. There is no question of allowing anyone to take away the livelihood of our farmers. KMF is not only a lifeline of our farmers, but it symbolises the pride and self-respect of Kannadigas. Better if Amit Shah can understand this.”
The BJP, he said, was trying to finish off Karnataka’s progress with attempts to weaken its dairy brand, he said.

Siddaramaiah, in a statement, said the BJP was now trying to snap at the state’s milk source after attempting to weaken its banking system. Nandini was supporting about 2.5 million farming families, who do transactions worth about Rs 20,000 crore a year, and the BJP’s plans could hurt their livelihood, he added.

The Congress also said the BJP was targeting Nandini now after erasing the existence of the state’s own Corporation and Vijaya banks. The party, it said, was committed to saving the KMF.