Amul to enter Karnataka; Siddaramaiah opposes strongly

Bengaluru: Gujarat- based co-operative giant Amul has already selling its various products in the market of Karnataka and has now started selling milk and yogurt. Though Karnataka Milk Fedaration (KMF) milk product Nandini brand is dominating in the field competing with other private brands , it would compete with co-operative sector Amul milk in future.

Amul made this announcement through its Kannada Twitter account, "The wait is over. Coming soon to Bangalore. Coming soon to Quick Commerce platforms, new freshness is waiting for you!" Amul tweeted. Currently there are many milk products in Karnataka market like Tirumala, Arokya, Dodla run by private companies based in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Private companies in Karnataka are also selling milk like Mandya Organic.

Amul also announced its milk and yogurt prices via Twitter. At present Nandini brand regular milk half litre costs Rs 20 , while Amul regular milk costs Rs 27. There is Nandini Samriddhi plus other creamy milk priced at Rs 24 per half litre while the Amul price is Rs 32. The Nandini curd costs rs 24 per half litre while Amul price is rs 30 for 450 ml curd.

Soon after the tweet by Amul , former chief minister Siddaramaiah has expressed outrage over Amul's entry into the Karnataka market. He wrote about this on Facebook.

As Siddaramaiah says: 'Banks built by our elders in Karnataka were eaten up. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah have hatched a plan to adopt Nandini, which is Sanjeevini of the farmers.

The state's dairy industry has been stunned ever since Amit Shah, who is also the Union Cooperation Minister, proposed the merger of KMF and Amul. Amul is entering through the back door in the face of strong Kannadiga opposition to the merger proposal. Nandini milk and yogurt have been disappearing in the state for the past few days. At the same time, sales of Amul products have started with a bang. It is clear that all this is happening under the direct supervision of union Minister Amit Shah.

Gujarat-based Amul had earlier tried to enter the Karnataka market by selling milk and yogurt. We did not allow it. Now the BJP has extended a red carpet welcome. Milk stock in KMF is decreasing during BJP regime. Where 99 lakh litres of milk should be collected per day, only 71 lakh litres of milk is being collected. Is this a conspiracy against KMF?

The BJP leadership in Karnataka is so weak that on the one hand the Maharashtra government is trying to establish its rule directly in the Belgaum border region. On the other hand, the state of Gujarat is trying to push the farmers to the streets through Amul. In addition to language treason by 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 the KMF. All the Kannadigas have to unanimously resist against the usurpation of the KMF, which is built for the welfare of the farmers of the country. All Kannadigas should pledge not to buy Amul products.

Chief Minister Basavaraja Bommai should immediately intervene and stop Amul from entering through the back door. In this regard, Bommai should convey the referendum to Union Home Minister Amit Shah to be taken into consideration and this treacherous thinking should be stopped', Siddaramaiah said in a tweet.