#Politics | Rahul Gandhi visits Nandini store, Tejasvi Surya replies: ‘Just a gimmick’
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s visit to a Nandini store on Sunday intensified the Amul-Nandini row in Karnataka. While the Congress called the milk cooperative the state’s pride, the BJP dismissed the move as a “gimmick”.
Hours after his rally in Kolar, Gandhi went to a Nandini milk parlour along with state Congress president DK Shivakumar. Tweeted a picture later, he said: “Karnataka’s Pride – NANDINI is the best!”
The BJP quickly shot back, with Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya tweeting: “Glad that Rahul Gandhi thinks Nandini is the best. There is no doubt about it. I request him to intervene in Kerala for smooth sale of Nandini. If not, this will be yet another gimmick.”
“Waiting for Rahul Gandhi to make a public announcement in Kerala for free access to Nandini,” he added. On April 15, Kerala’s milk cooperative raised concerns over Nandini’s retail foray into the state, saying that its entry into the state “will harm our interests” and is “mutually destructive”.
Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai said: “Sir, unlike your forefathers who built brands surrounding their names, Modi avl’s India is seeing a surge of regional brands like Aavin in TN & Nandini in Karnataka. In Atma Nirbhar Bharat all of these brands are being transformed into international brands.”
Meanwhile, the Congress continued to post about the cooperative’s achievements.
“Nandini is not just a brand but the pride of every Kannadiga. Nearly 26 lakh farmers are part of the Karnataka Milk Federation, generating ₹20,000 crores of income. It impacts 1.25 crore people linked to the cooperative. Nandini is the best,” said Youth Congress leader BY Srinivas.
Tweeting the picture, Congress leader and party Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala said: “Nandini” is best ! BJP can’t decimate it. BJP can’t destroy it. BJP can’t sell it off.”
Hitting back at Annamalai, Tamil Nadu Congress working president Mohan Kumaramangalam said, “Thanks to your governments delay in providing vaccines against lumpy skin disease (LSD) and foot & mouth disease many farmers lost their cattle and from July 2022 to Jan 2023 , KMF procurement fell by 10 lakh litres a day. Good job trying to kill Nandini.”
The battle of the cooperatives began with Amul announcing its entry into the fresh milk market of Bengaluru, after which the Opposition Congress has been alleging that the BJP government is making efforts to merge Nandini with Amul and that it could have a devastating impact on Karnataka Milk Federation’s brand.
