The 'Amul versus Nandini' political slugfest has spooked the BJP, forcing top party leaders to step in and douse the row that erupted just a month before the Karnataka Assembly polls.
The controversy underlines the significance of 'politics around milk' in Karnataka, where 16 unions spread across 22,000 villages and 24 lakh members give the sector a powerful voice that is coveted by parties to establish a grassroots presence.
"Beyond the money and prestige, it's the large membership base that parties are looking to cultivate," political analyst A Narayana said, explaining the political significance of milk unions.
The post of chairperson at the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF), India's second-largest dairy cooperative that owns the Nandini brand, was mostly occupied by JD(S) and Congress leaders. In 2019, BJP lawmaker Balachandra Jarkiholi was elected as KMF chairperson.
Although milk union elections are not held on party symbols, candidates always come with political backing. At present, two milk unions are in favour of Congress, three JD(S) and the rest are BJP-leaning, according to sources.
With Amul offering online sale of its milk and curd, both the Congress and the JD(S) have turned it into an issue of Kannada identity. On Monday, Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar snacked on Nandini products at a stall in Hassan, making his point.
Considering the huge reach of the milk unions, the BJP has much at stake.
The Amul-Nandini issue is one more front on which the BJP is having to fire-fight besides anti-incumbency that is a natural challenge for any incumbent. "There is the risk of this misinformation fueling anti-incumbency further," one BJP leader said.
Accordingly, several top BJP leaders lined up to counter the Opposition on the issue. For example, BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh pointed out that that it was in 2017, when the Siddaramaiah-led Congress was in power, that Amul milk entered Karnataka.
Similarly, BJP Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai said Nandini was launched in Tamil Nadu in 2014 during Siddaramiah’s tenure. "Why this double standard?" he asked.
But farmer leader Kuruburu Shanthakumar blamed all three parties - the BJP, Congress and JD(S) for weakening the KMF.
"There's corruption in KMF recruitment. There are financial irregularities. Private companies have entered the dairy market, wooing farmers with better prices. This will kill unions gradually. No political party has addressed the issues until now," he said.