The political squabble over the entry of Amul, the Gujarat state milk cooperative brand, into the Karnataka market has political ramifications for the ruling BJP, as it risks alienating a critical electoral vote bank.
The opposition has claimed that Amul's entry, backed by the BJP, would endanger the Karnataka Milk Federation's (KMF) brand "Nandini," which is closely associated with Kannadiga identity.
After Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah accused the Basavaraj Bommai-led government of destroying the "state's pride" on Sunday, the state government went into damage-control mode.
ST Somashekar, Minister for Cooperatives, said there was no proposal to merge KMF and Amul and chastised the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) for making Amul's entry "a political issue ahead of elections."
Electoral blowback concerns BJP
The majority of milk producers come from the old Mysuru regions of Mandya, Mysuru, Ramanagara, and Kolar, as well as the central Karnataka district of Davangere, making them an important electoral constituency with 120-130 Assembly seats.
While old Mysuru is a Vokkaliga belt dominated by the Janata Dal (Secular) and the Congress, central Karnataka is part of the Lingayat belt. The Lingayats are the BJP's largest support base in the state. This explains why the ruling party has been actively attempting to counter the Opposition on the issue, as any move that may cause consternation among the ruling party's support base and feed into the fears of Opposition party supporters is likely to backfire.
Siddaramaiah lashes out at Modi
Continuing his offensive against the ruling BJP, after Amul announced its plans to sell milk and curd in the Bengaluru market, Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Sunday tweeted asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was visiting Karnataka on Sunday, whether the purpose of his visit was "to loot the state".
Alleging that the State's milk production had been affected since the day Union Cooperative Minister Amit Shah spoke about the possibility of merging the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) with Amul, the former Chief Minister in a series of tweets asked the Prime Minister what his role had been in this.
Amul's move is being seen by many, especially opposition parties, as a threat to KMF's famed dairy brand 'Nandini'. They also see it as an attempt to trample upon KMF, amid a narrative around its merger with Amul.
Amul's move is being seen by many, especially opposition parties, as a threat to KMF's famed dairy brand 'Nandini'. They also see it as an attempt to trample upon KMF, amid a narrative around its merger with Amul.
(With agency inputs)
