Amul-Nandini controversy: Opposition politicises milk ahead of Karnataka polls

Ahead of the Karnataka assembly elections in May this yr, social media is rife with misinformation about Amul taking up the State’s native dairy mannequin Nandini.

The controversy began on Wednesday (April 5) when the official Twitter take care of of Amul posted an infographic with the caption, “The #Amul family is bringing in some Taaza into #Bengaluru city. More updates coming in soon. #LaunchAlert”.

The archive of the tweet could also be accessed proper right here. Soon after, vested political pursuits began trending hashtags corresponding to ‘#GoBackAmul’ and ‘#SaveNandini’ on the micro-blogging platform.

The #Amul family is bringing in some Taaza into #Bengaluru metropolis. More updates coming in shortly. #LaunchAlert pic.twitter.com/2ZjN0bKkdX

— Amul.coop (@Amul_Coop) April 5, 2023

In December 2022, Union Home Minister Amit Shah referred to as for increased cooperation between Amul and Nandini, which is owned by the Karnataka Milk Federation.

While inaugurating a mega-dairy plant in Mandya, Amit Shah had said, “Amul and KMF together will work together towards ensuring there is a primary dairy in every village of the state.”

“In 47 years, Karnataka has progressed in the dairy sector and the turnover has increased from Rs 4 crore to Rs 25,000 crore. Amul and KMF have to work together to boost the cooperative dairy in Karnataka,” Shah extra added.

His assertion was deliberately misconstrued to counsel that Amul may buy Nandini throughout the near future and thus promote the native dairy mannequin to ‘North Indian businessmen.’ Some vested pursuits went on to say that Amul is trying to ‘root out’ Nandini and thus undermine Kannadiga identification and custom.

The controversy was re-ignited after Amul tweeted about its plans to launch its mannequin in Bengaluru. Meanwhile, the Bruhat Bengaluru Hotels Association has vowed to utilize solely Nandini milk to assist Karnataka’s dairy farmers.

It should be talked about that the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) is the second largest milk dairy in India, with over 2.4 million milk producer members and 14,000 milk producers’ cooperative societies.

Congress, JDS leaders add to the hysteria

Opposition political leaders in Karnataka in the mean time are trying to utilize the Amul-Nandini controversy to whip up regionalism ahead of the state elections. Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah even appealed to the Kannadigas to boycott the Amul mannequin.

While speaking regarding the matter, he said, “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.”

Beware of @PMOIndia @narendramodi, @HMOIndia @AmitShah & their double engine govt!!

They will promote the entire belongings belonging to Kannadigas. After destroying our banks, they’re now determined to destroy Nandini KMF – a mannequin constructed by our farmers.#SaveNandini pic.twitter.com/TtaffDnDMo

— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) April 7, 2023

Congress chief DK Shivakumar urged an even bigger conspiracy throughout the entry of Amul into the Karnataka market. “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,” he knowledgeable ANI.

#WATCH | Bengaluru: We have to defend our milk and our farmers. We already have Nandini which is a better mannequin than Amul…We don’t need any Amul..our water, our milk, and our soil is powerful: Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar pic.twitter.com/LNvBynEDsB

— ANI (@ANI) April 8, 2023

Janata Dal (Secular) chief H D Kumaraswamy moreover resorted to regionalism over the Amul-Nandini row.

“Amul is being pushed into Karnataka from the backdoor with the support of the Central government. Amul is strangulating the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) and the farmers. Kannada people should rebel against Amul,” he said.

“We as Kannadigas should oppose Amul and protect the interest of Karnataka farmers unitedly. Our people and customers should use Nandini products on priority and save the livelihood of farmers,” HD Kumaraswamy extra claimed.