BJP gains full control of Amul Dairy, wrests both top posts

VADODARA/ANAND: BJP wrested the top two posts of Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Limited, popularly known as Amul Dairy, as long-time chairman Ramsinh Parmar and vice-chairman Rajendrasinh Parmar lost Tuesday's board elections and their run of almost 17 years together in those positions ended.
Kheda district BJP chief Vipul Patel was chosen over Ramsinh, although he has been with BJP since 2017 and chairman of India's oldest dairy cooperative for over two decades. Ex-Congress MLA Rajendrasinh made way for Kanti Sodha Parmar - also a former Congress legislator who had recently joined BJP.
Rajendrasinh's defeat is seen as a setback for Congress as Amul Dairy was the last stronghold of the party in Gujarat's dairy cooperative sector. BJP has an upper hand in the other 17 milk unions, which are members of the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation.
In Amul Dairy, with its HQ in Anand, Congress was a depleted lot after five party-backed directors defected to BJP. Last month, Sodha Parmar joined BJP. Congress had won eight of 11 seats in the union elections in 2020.