Rahul Gandhi announces Rs 2 hike in milk subsidy if Congress voted

AICC leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday promised to increase the milk subsidy from the present Rs 5 to Rs 7 per litre if the Congress party is voted to power in Karnataka.

He made the announcement at a Congress rally at Arasikere in Hassan district. The government gives subsidy to milk producers for supplies made to the Karnataka Cooperative Milk Producers Union (KMF), which owns India’s second largest dairy brand Nandini.

The Congress party has been attacking the ruling BJP ever since Amul, owned by the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, tweeted last month that a wave of freshness was coming to Bengaluru from Kengeri to Whitefield - from the west end of the city to the east - with the hashtag “LaunchAlert.” The marquee dairy brand said it will sell its milk and curd in Bengaluru, triggering widespread protests led by the Congress and JDS. Opposition leader Siddaramaih (Congress) claimed that it was a ploy by the BJP to subsume Nandini into Amul.


The Congress party’s plans to increase the subsidy would force milk producers to sell their milk only to the KMF and if Nandini sustains its current price levels, it may make the Bengaluru market a tough one for Amul to increase the sale of its milk and curd.