Guess who will cry over spilt milk in Karnataka

Union Minister for Home and Cooperation Amit Shah, on December 30, 2022, in Mandya, stressed cooperation between Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) and Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) to strengthen milk cooperatives in India. On April 5, GCMMF managing director Jayen Mehta announced plans to push GCMMF’s AMUL milk and curds through e-commerce platforms into Karnataka. The first raised fears of a planned “merger” between the two; the second, a symptom of times to come for the KMF. Both combined to snowball into a controversy on the ground. It led to a pre-poll narrative that the BJP at the Centre, with the help of the BJP-led Karnataka government, is clandestinely planning to merge the two federations and “destroy” KMF’s popular Nandini brand.

For the opposition parties in Karnataka, it offered an ideal opportunity to whip up emotions against the ruling BJP, especially among the 26 lakh dairy farmers in Karnataka who supply milk to KMF. The spin doctors are in overdrive. Emotions spread through various segments of the Kannadiga society, each falling in line with the Nandini brand of products under KMF. Protests erupted in some areas, with the chauvinism of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) coming into play.

KMF—the second largest milk cooperative in India with an annual turnover of Rs 25,000 crore after GCMMF (Rs 72,000 crore)—undoubtedly holds a position of pride among Kannadigas. Its products are in high demand not just within the state but also in Maharashtra, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. However, AMUL and Nandini are products of the White Revolution, set in motion in 1970 and led by Dr Verghese Kurien to transform the then dairy-deficient country into a global leader in milk production, with GCMMF and KMF being highly successful cooperative enterprises today. Their competition has so far remained healthy, which is why KMF chairman, Balachandra Jarkiholi, has categorically denied any possibility of a tie-up or merger between them, even if the Centre attempts it.With the issue becoming a political hot potato, the plans of AMUL milk and curds coming into Karnataka may be put off until after the polls. But the opposition has resolved to keep the issue burning until the elections. Who will end up crying over this spilt milk remains to be seen.