Twitter Scan | No, Amul is not competing against Nandini in Karnataka; Here's why Congress's agenda over anti-Amul will not work

The political temperature has started to heat up in Karnataka, as all parties have started running their political agendas ahead of the assembly election. Similarly, the grand old party, Congress, has started running its false narrative to target the ruling party. So, the Gujarat-based dairy giant Amul's entry into the state has given Congress ammunition to train its guns towards the ruling BJP government.

 

In its hunger to come into power, Congress has started its old strategy of Divide and Rule strategy to create hatred against the current government among the people. With the help of the JD (S), it started misleading people against Amul, stating that Amul’s entry would pose a threat to the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) brand 'Nandini', which is closely tied to the identity of Kannadigas. The Congress party has accused the ruling BJP of conspiring to kill the state's formidable dairy brand, Nandini, and of not doing enough to protect the interests of local farmers.

 

From alleging that it's Ami Shah's plan to damage Karnataka's Nandini, to saying how 'one nation, one Amul, one milk, and one Gujarat' has become the official policy of the Central government, Congress left no stone unturned to mislead the Karnataka voters against the current government before the state elections.

 

Hashtags like #Savenandini #GobackAmul started trending on Twitter, with consumers calling for a boycott of Amul products. Soon, the matter escalated and grew into a full-fledged controversy.

 

However, it seems like before targeting the government, Congress forgot that Amul entered the Karnataka market in 2017, when Congress itself was in power and Siddaramaiah was the chief minister of the state.

 

It should be noted that Amul had been selling its butter, ghee, yoghurt, and ice cream in the state for a very long time. Not just Amul, some other dairy brands are selling packaged milk and curd, such as Dodla and Heritage (Telangana), Tirumala, Arokya, and Milky Mist (TN), and Namdhari and Akshayakalpa (Karnataka).

 

So why this drama? if Amul's entry was that problematic, then why didn't he object then? Was the government sleeping? Why don't they prevent the entry of Amul to protect the interests of the state's dairy farmers?

 

 

 

Moreover, if we look at the price then, the price of Nandini is the lowest with toned milk priced at Rs 39 a litre while Amul is selling the same at Rs 54. Amul's half-litre curd is priced at Rs 30 while Nandini sells the same for Rs 24. Nandini milk is way cheaper than Amul, and hence it has a huge market share of nearly 80 % and Amul is not even trying to compete there. NOBODY can compete with Nandini milk.

 

 

 

The low price makes it impossible for any other player, whether cooperative or private, to compete. Credit for this goes to a scheme that was introduced by the BJP govt of Karnataka, way back in 2008. In Sept 2008, the BJP govt started giving a ₹2/litre incentive to farmers supplying milk to Nandini, over & above the procurement price.

 

Today, the BJP govt's incentive to Karnataka's Milk producers has been raised to ₹6/litre, amounting to ₹1,200 crores annually.

 

 

It should be noted that Both Amul and KMF sell their products across quick-commerce platforms. Just to give Congress a reality check, Amul already buys milk from KMF for their ice creams because KMF is the cheapest provider.

 

Just like the "Fake farmer agitation" and "Anti-CAA agitation", the Anti-Amul agitation is a politically motivated "fake issue" aimed at dividing people and dividing India. Nothing more, nothing less.