‘Nandini better than Amul’: Congress' DK Shivakumar on Karnataka milk row

Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar said that local farmers and dairy brand Nandini will be ‘protected’ amid a row over Amul's entry into the state.

As the Amul vs Nandini milk battle boils over in Karnataka, state Congress chief DK Shivakumar on Saturday reiterated the party’s stance on the issue. Asserting that Nandini is a ‘better’ brand than Amul, he said that Karnataka’s milk and farmers will be ‘protected’.

Congress's DK Shivakumar slammed Gujarat-based Amul’s entry into the Karnataka dairy market. (PTI)

Speaking to news agency ANI, the Congress leader slammed Gujarat-based dairy cooperative society Amul’s entry into the Karnataka dairy market, “We want to protect our milk and our farmers. We already have Nandini which is a better brand than Amul...We don't need any Amul..our water, our milk, and our soil is strong.”

On Wednesday, Amul had teased its launch in Bengaluru adding that e-commerce platforms will be used to enable the delivery of its dairy products, raising concerns that its entry will pose a threat to the state’s local brand.

The Amul vs Nandini war has raged ever since union home minister Amit Shah sparked speculations of a merger between the KMF and Gujarat's Anand Milk Union Limited (Amul) during a visit to Karnataka in December.

The battle has spilled out on social media, too, with a hashtag war of #GoBackAmul and #SaveNandini unfolding on Twitter.

On Friday, congress leader and former chief minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah urged Kannadigas to boycott Amul products.

He further said, "In addition to language treason by the imposition of Hindi and land treason by trespassing within the state borders, now the BJP government is going to betray the farmers by shutting down Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF), which is the livelihood of millions of dairy farming families in the country."

The Congress has alleged a conspiracy by BJP to finish off KMF through the ‘backdoor entry’ of Amul in Karnataka. Janata Dal (Secular), too, strongly opposed Amul making inroads into Karnataka and attempting to edge out Nandini.