After triggering a needless hate campaign against Amul, Karnataka Congress now struggles to save face in Nandini Vs Amul row after Metro kiosk decision
The Amul vs Nandini controversy has yet again revived a political storm in Karnataka after the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) allowed dairy brand, AMUL, to set up kiosks at Bengaluru metro stations. The opposition lashed out at the Congress government in Karnataka after a BMRCL newsletter dated 16th June stated that AMUL kiosks will be set up at ten Bengaluru metro stations, including major stops like Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Station (Majestic), Indiranagar, Baiyappanahalli, Trinity, and Banashankari. The opposition accused the Siddaramaiah government of neglecting the homegrown dairy brand Nandini by signing the agreement with Gujarat-based AMUL.
Amid mounting pressure, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister, DK Shivakumar, posted a clarification on X saying that the BMRCL invited global tenders to open kiosks at ten metro stations but only AMUL applied and therefore was allowed to open stores at 2 places.
“Our Nandini is our pride: Notice to open 8 Nandini stores in metros BMRCL has called for tenders, but no one else has applied for stores except Amul. KMF also did not apply. Now we have instructed KMF to apply, and out of the 10 places where tenders were called, Amul has applied in a global tender and opened stores in two places. It is not right to close the stores that have been opened. I have said that KMF should be allowed to open stores in the remaining 8 places,” wrote Shivakumar on Wednesday (18th June).
Launching a scathing attack on the deputy Chief minister, the JDS accused him of having “sold his self-respect for the sake of commission”. Reminding Shivakumar, how before the 2023 assembly elections, his party vehemently opposed dairy brands of other states and used the name of Nandini for election, the JDS said that now his party’s government has allowed AMUL to set up stores by taking commission.
BJP MLC, CT Ravi also cornered the state congress accusing it of fabricating a controversy around the dairy brands AMUL and Nandini ahead of the assembly elections.
AMUL Vs Nandini controversy
The controversy dates back to May, 2023, when Congress, Janata Dal (Secular) and other parties went after the then BJP government in Karnataka after AMUL announced that it was planning to launch its brand in Bengaluru. The opposition parties spread the misinformation that the then BJP government was planning to root out the local Kannadiga brand Nandini by allowing AMUL to sell its products in the state.
Months before that, in December 2022, Home Minister Amit Shah had called for a greater cooperation between AMUL and Nandini to boost cooperative dairy in Karnataka. However, Shah’s remarks were misconstrued by the state opposition leaders who turned it into a ‘North Vs South’ debate. Congress leaders in Karnataka tried to use the Amul-Nandini controversy to whip up regionalism ahead of the state elections and alleged that Nandini would be sold to ‘North Indian businessmen.’
Ironically, Shivakumar back then suggested that there was a larger conspiracy behind the entry of AMUL into Karnataka. He condemned AMUL in the name of ‘saving’ the farmers of Karnataka and said, “We want to protect our milk and our farmers. 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”. This was followed by Siddaramaiah’s appeal to the people of Karnataka to boycott AMUL. Siddaramaiah went on to link the AMUL’s entry into Karnataka with “language treason” and “land treason” by the BJP claiming that the BJP government was going to betray the farmers by shutting down the KMF. “In addition to language treason by the imposition of Hindi and land treason by trespassing within the state borders, now the BJP government is going to betray the farmers by shutting down Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF), which is the livelihood of millions of dairy farming families in the country,” Siddaramaiah alleged.
This is a classic example of how Congress, a national party, exploits regional sentiments and creates division for the sake of votes during elections. Clearly, the economic progress of a state comes after its political interest for the Congress party. Congress, which suffers from political myopia, is now getting a taste of its own medicine and struggling to save its face after doing the exact same thing which it was opposing ahead of the state assembly elections.
News