Congress retains control over Amul Dairy in Gujarat

The Congress retained its control over the country’s first dairy co-operative union, the Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union, popularly known as Amul Dairy, by winning nine out of eleven seats of the board of the union for which results were declared Wednesday, paving the way for Congress MLA Ramsinh Parmar to become its chairman for the fourth time in a row.

Of the 17 dairy cooperative unions in the state that are represented on the board of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), the apex marketing body that markets Amul brand of milk and milk-products, Amul Dairy is the only one under Congress control. Rest of the sixteen unions are under the control of the ruling BJP party.

Amul Vikas Panel, represented by members affiliated to Congress, won nine out of thirteen seats of Amul Dairy board, while BJP-led Amul Parivartan Panel won one seat. One seat went to an independent candidate. Chairman of the Nadiad Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC), Vipul Patel represented the BJP-panel. Results were declared for eleven seats, as Parmar and Patel had remained uncontested on Thasra and Matar seats, respectively. With this, Congress controls ten seats, while BJP controls two and independent one.

The win comes as a respite for Congress which faced strong challenge from BJP, which managed to make fresh inroads by winning two seats. Previously, Congress-affiliated members held control over all thirteen seats on the board of Amul Dairy.
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/gujarat/congress-retains-control-over-amul-dairy-the-only-dairy-union-held-by-it-in-gujarat/