'Who was the CM then': BJP's Annamalai slams Cong's Siddaramaiah, says Amul entered Karnataka in 2017

Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai on Monday hit back at former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for saying the BJP was allowing dairy major Amul at the cost of Nandini, a local brand in the southern state. Amul, a popular milk brand, is owned by Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, while Nandini is operated by the Karnataka Cooperative Milk Producers Federation Limited (KMF).

Also read - Amul vs Nandini: The war between two dairy titans

In a tweet on Monday, Annamalai wrote that the 43rd Annual General Body meeting of Amul held on 15 June 2017 said that the company had expanded its fresh products footprint by launching Amul Milk in Northern Karnataka among other regions. "Who was the CM of Karnataka back then?" BJP's firebrand leader asked, referring to Siddaramaiah's tenure as the chief minister from 2013 to 2018.

The BJP leader further said that it was under his party's rule, the milk procurement from farmers in Karnataka had grown. "Total marketable milk production in Karnataka is about 1.2 crore litres/day. Milk procured by KMF from farmers has increased from 66.3 Lakh Liters per day under the Congress regime to 82.4 Lakhs LPD now under the Double engine Sarkara," he said. "Who let the Pvt dairies flourish?"

The BJP has been facing an attack from Congress, which alleged that Gujarat-based Amul was trying to capture the market share of Nandini. However, Annamalai suggested that this was Congress' 'double standard' as KMF had also launched its products in Tamil Nadu, whose local milk brand is Aavin.

"Undoubtedly, brands like Aavin from my State & Nandini from Karnataka are the pride of the respective states & milk-producing farmers. In 2014, Nandini Milk was launched in TN during the former CM Siddaramiah's tenure. Why this double standard @siddaramaiah avare?" BJP's Tamil Nadu chief said.  

Annamalai's rebuttal comes a day after Siddaramaiah attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming that he was trying to steal Nandini from the people of Karnataka. "Is your purpose of coming to Karnataka is to give to Karnataka or to loot from Karnataka? You have already stolen banks, ports & airports from Kannadigas. Are you now trying to steal Nandini (KMF) from us?" he tweeted on Sunday.

The saffron party on Sunday accused the Congress of unleashing a "misinformation campaign" over Amul's presence in Karnataka and said it had done far more than the opposition party to strengthen the KMF and its products are sold under the brand name Nandini.

"Amul is NOT entering Karnataka. Both Amul and KMF sell their products across quick-commerce platforms. KMF's turnover went up by (Rs) 10,000 crore after BJP came to power in 2019. In 2022, turnover stood at (Rs) 25,000 crore, of which (Rs) 20,000 crore went back to farmers of Karnataka," BJP IT department head Amit Malviya wrote on Twitter.

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