BJP in full control of Amul Dairy, wins both top posts in Gujarat

VADODARA/ ANAND: In a dramatic development in Gujarat's dairy cooperative sector, Ramsinh Parmar, the veteran cooperative leader, on Tuesday lost the chairmanship of the Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Limited (KDCMPUL) popularly known as Amul Dairy - a post that he held for more than two decades.
Along with him, his deputy - Rajendrasinh Parmar, former Congress MLA from Borsad, also lost his vice-chairmanship. Elections for the two top posts were held after a gap of almost two and a half years. The duo of 'Ram' and 'Raj' had held the two top posts of Amul Dairy for nearly 17 years.
The elections for the two top posts of Amul Dairy were held on Tuesday with a clear mandate from the BJP. Kheda district BJP chief Vipul Patel (Dumral) and Kanti Sodha Parmar were unanimously elected as chairman and vice-chairman respectively.
It was for the first time in the history of Gujarat's oldest dairy co-operative that both the top posts were now held by leaders of the saffron party.
Amul Dairy was the last stronghold of the Congress in Gujarat's dairy cooperative sector. In the other 17 milk unions of Gujarat, who are members of the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation, BJP is already enjoying a majority.
But Congress which had won eight out of 11 seats for which elections were held in 2020, recently slipped into the minority after five of its directors joined the BJP.
Just last month Parmar, a former Congress MLA from Anand, joined the saffron party. Sources said Vipul Patel (Dumral) was instrumental in bringing the former Congress MLA to the BJP.
After the ex-Congress MLA, four other Congress-backed directors, also joined BJP earlier this month after which BJP's total strength in Amul Dairy board rose to 10 while that of Congress was reduced to two. The four directors apparently switched over to BJP after being persuaded by Ramsinh Parmar, said sources.
But when it came to giving a mandate, BJP's state leadership choose Vipul Patel over Ramsinh, who had joined BJP in 2017. In the 2022 assembly elections, BJP had given a ticket to Ramsinh's son Yogendra, who currently represents Thasra assembly seat in Gujarat.
Vipul Patel has served as a director in Nadiad APMC for two terms. He was recently elected as chairman of the Kheda District Central Cooperative Bank and also heads Anand Regional Co-operative Seed Growers Union Limited apart from being Kheda district BJP chief.
First elected to the board of Amul Dairy in 1978, Ramsinh is the oldest cooperative leader of the region. Since then, he has been elected to the board in all consecutive elections. He was first elected as chairman in 1990 for a year. He again held the reigns of the dairy as chairman from March 1996 to July 1996 and since 2002 he was unanimously elected as chairman of Amul Dairy.