Mandava in trouble

Rebels bid to replace milk union chief

D Gopi

Vijayawada: The Krishna Milk Producers Cooperative Society (Vijaya Dairy) chairman, Mandava Janakiramaiah, seems to be in trouble from his own party men this time. He had survived such sabotages twice in the past and is pitched in a battle to prove his majority in the Board of Directors yet another round.

The dairy is set to fill three director posts that fell vacant and polling is slated for September 20. The dairy has received 11 nominations for the three posts on Saturday and polling would be held on September 20, if required. However, the party leaders led by the district unit chief Devineni Umamaheswara Rao and the former whip, Kagita Venkatrao are holding consultations with the warring groups to make the election unanimous.

Earlier, when similar attempt was made by Janakiramaiah’s rivals, the party chief N Chandrababu Naidu himself had to intervene and iron out the differences. This time the party chief had assigned the task to Kagita Venkatrao, who is working on the task.

The rivals led by the Gannavaram legislator, Dasari Venkata Balavardhana Rao, filed nominations and are fighting a tough battle to destabilise Janakiramaiah’s control over the milk union. The TD senior leader Sunkara Krishna Mohan, who also filed his nomination for the director’s post, is all set to unseat Janakiramaiah, who is called the ‘Krishna Kurian’ by milk producers.

However, rebels complain that Janakiramaiah had been working for his own promotion and was not being helpful to the party at anytime. Krishna Mohan had emerged a champion opposing Janakiramaiah’s whip in the milk union for the past some time. This time, he has the support of several other senior leaders who feel that Janakiramaiah is of no use for the party and should be replaced.

In the 15-member Board of Directors, Janakiramaiah enjoys the support of 8 members, while the remaining 7 directors are in the rival camp. If two out of the three rebels win the September 20 elections, it would be difficult for Janakiramaiah to handle the affairs of the milk union, which is one of the largest dairies in the State and the initial base for the most popular ‘Vijaya’ brand milk products in the State.

Interestingly, the party district president and Mylavaram legislator, Devineni Umamaheswara Rao and the city president, K Nagul Meera, appeared for Janakiramaiah’s rivals, giving a new twist to the crisis. While the party leaders say that Umamaheswara Rao and Nagul Meera attended the nominations only to ensure the party’s victory. There are rumours that the two leaders are in favour of unseating Janakiramaiah and thus get control over the milk producers in the district .

However, some of the senior leaders who are close to Chandrababu Naidu are confident of resolving the issue and retaining the party’s grip over the milk union.