In the midst of the Nandini vs Amul battle, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi purchased a Nandini ice cream on Sunday and referred to the brand as "Karnataka's pride." He also called Nandini, Karnataka Milk Federation's flagship brand, the "best." The move by the Congress leader comes after state party leaders backed the homegrown dairy brand amid fears of its takeover by Gujarat's Amul. The former MP was seen in a video with state party chief DK Shivakumar and general secretary KC Venugopal at the store, according to a video posted by news agency ANI.
Gandhi is on a two-day visit to poll-bound Karnataka. The former MP later captioned his photo on Twitter, "Karnataka's Pride - NANDINI is the best!" The dispute between the two unions began recently when Amul announced that it would supply its milk varieties in Bengaluru.
Previously, during an election campaign, Shivakumar shopped for milk products at a Nandini store. He also stated that the brand represents the farmers' self-esteem in Karnataka.
"Visited Hassan's Nandini store today and bought milk products. The BJP government is trying to hijack the Nandini brand which is a symbol of the self-esteem of our farmers and Kannadigas. But let the BJP government remember this, Kannadigas will never sell their self-respect," the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president said.
The opposition Congress and JD(S) claimed that allowing Amul in Karnataka would 'kill' Nandini. They were also concerned that a scarcity of Nandini products would be created in order for Amul to take over. The BJP government led by Basavaraj Bommai, on the other hand, denied the charge, claiming that Amul posed no threat to Nandini.