From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Apr 9: After handing over Karnataka’s ports, airports and banks to Gujarati’s, the Narendra Modi-led BJP regime is out to sell State’s famed Nandini brand to Amul of Gujarat, accused Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Sunday.
The Congress leader targeted the ruling BJP for trying to "finish" off Karnataka’s Milk Federation and its Nandini brand of Milk, Ghee and other products which had been nurtured and promoted by Kannadigas to Amul by allowing it to sell all its products while allowing the Nandini products to slowly die.
Demanding that the Amul products, which have made a big entry into the State’s market must be withdrawn from Karnataka, Siddaramaiah said the Modi-led BJP had allowed Karnataka’s Vijaya Bank to be merged into the Gujarat-based Bank of Baroda while Adani group had been allowed to take over the ports and airports in the State.
The former Congress chief minister said the Nandini Milk and allied products of KMF had been under attack since Union Minister Amit Shah openly suggested the merger of KMF with Amul. The Nandini products have started disappearing from the market while Gujarat-based Amul products are widely available. ``This is nothing but a strategy to kill the Nandini brand at the cost of Amul,’’ he alleged.
Siddaramaiah, has in a statement to the media in Bengaluru, said his Congress government had introduced Ksheera Dhare, Ksheera Bhagya and Annabhagya. The Ksheera Dhare scheme of offering the subsidy to farmers to Rs 5 per litre had helped in increasing the State’s milk production from 45 lakh litres on December 20, 2013 to 73 lakh litres by 2017.
“The government did not suspend milk procurement from farmers as milk production had increased and instead launched Ksheera Dhare to provide milk to school children, which helped the children as well as the cattle farmers. After the BJP came to power to milk production is coming down. It has reached barely 71 lakh against the target of 91 lakh litres. Is this part of Modi and Amit Shah strategy to cause a slow death of KMF,” he asked.
Under Modi’s BJP rule, the Sabarwals, Bindra, Jains and Sharmas have prospered in their beef export trade and media reports point out that their turnover has crossed by thousands of crores of rupees. But the KMF built by Kannadigas is allowed to be swallowed by Gujarat’s Amul, he alleged.
Later, Siddaramaiah participated in the Sankalpa Convention organized by the Federation of Oppressed Classes and said the ruling BJP cannot be trusted in its gimmicks on reservation, which was nothing but a political gimmick.
The RSS was launched by Hedgewar in1925 and Golwalkar worked as its convener later. Sawarkar was the Hindu Maha Sabha chief. The Jan Sangh was started in 1951 and its offshoot BJP was fomeed in 1980. BJP is the political offshoot of RSS and the party is controlled by RSS and Hindu Maha Sabha. The RSS has no faith in the Constitution and BJP is now trying to project itself as the champion of the architect of Constitution Dr B R Ambedkar.