Milk row: Congress’ Shivakumar visits Nandini parlour, says Karnataka brand stronger than Amul

New Delhi [India], April 10 (ANI): Congress Karnataka chief D K Shivakumar on Monday visited a Nandini Milk parlour in the Hassan amid the ongoing charges and counter-charges between ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress and JD(S) over Amul’s announcement of foraying into the Karnataka market.

Shivakumar expressed support for Karnataka’s homegrown milk brand Nandini, which he claimed is better that that of the Gujarat-based dairy cooperative Amul. He was seeing buying and consuming Nandini products
“We already have Nandini which is a better brand than Amul…We don’t need any Amul…our water, our milk, and our soil is strong,” Shivakumar told ANI.

“In Karnataka, it’s a question of our farmer’s rights. More than 70 lakh farmers produce milk and give it to Nandini. Gujarat’s Amul is also by farmers. But it’s not right to push Amul forward and Nandini back. Their (BJP) government has not provided any help to farmers. We have to save our product and our farmers,” Shivakumar said.

The Congress leader said that the ruling BJP government had “raised the prices of all dairy products and they haven’t done any help to farmers. In between we are in the situation where we can’t sell milk.”

Meanwhile, Police detained workers of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike in Bengaluru, who protested over Amul’s entry into the State.

Amul had recently announced that it will sell dairy products in Bengaluru following which Opposition Congress and the JD(U) expressed their protest.

Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) has hit out at the Congress for running a “misinformation campaign.” State BJP general secretary Ravi Kumar stated that Nandini is on number two position in India ever since BJP came to power in Karnataka.

“Nandini is on number two position in the whole country, so in the coming days, we will also export to different countries, this is our idea. Nandini products are supplied in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Nandini’s milk is also used to make laddoos in Tirupati temple,” added Ravi Kumar.

BJP state general secretary Aswathnarayan said that fomer chief ministers Siddaramaiah of the Congress and HD Kumaraswamy of JD(S) along with some others like DK Shivakumar had been over the past few days spreading misinformation and “hulla gulla.”

BJP leader Amit Malviya had on Sunday tweeted, “There is a reason why India doesn’t TRUST Congress. They LIE! Latest being the misinformation campaign that Karnataka Milk Federation, which owns Nandini, is going to merge with Amul. Here are the facts – BJP has done far more to strengthen KMF and make Nandini a global brand,” tweeted BJP leader Amit Malviya.

Malviya in a series of tweets clarified that Amul will not be entering Karnataka and both Amul and KMF sell their products across quick-commerce platforms.

“Amul is NOT entering Karnataka – Both Amul and KMF sell their products across quick-commerce platforms – KMF’s turnover went up by 10,000 crore after BJP came to power in 2019. In 2022, turnover stood at 25,000 crore, of which 20,000 crore went back to farmers of Karnataka,” he Tweeted.

His statement comes on the heels of Karnataka Leader of Opposition (LoP) and Congress leader Siddaramaiah tweet on Sunday that the State’s milk product was affected since the day union cooperative minister Amit Shah spoke about the possibility of a merger between the Karnataka Milk Federation and Amul.

“KMF is nation’s second largest milk cooperative – KMF has depots in Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu. 15 per cent of KMF’s total sales is outside Karnataka – Nandini is exported to Singapore, UAE and many other countries – Amul and KMF are NOT merging,” tweeted Malviya. https://twitter.com/amitmalviya/status/1645092186864889856

Malviya further stated that under the BJP government, Karnataka has become a milk surplus state and that the dairy farms are doing very well.

“Under the BJP, Karnataka is a milk surplus state. Dairy farmers are doing very well. – Congress, which is shedding crocodile tears for brand Nandini, opposed the anti-cow slaughter bill, approved of our nandinis being slaughtered – BJP plans to make Nandini a bigger brand,” he tweeted.