'Are you now trying to steal Nandini from us?,' Siddaramaiah asks Modi
Bengaluru, Apr 9: Continuing his offensive against the ruling BJP, after Amul announced its plans to sell milk and curd in the Bengaluru market, Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Sunday tweeted asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was visiting Karnataka on Sunday, whether the purpose of his visit was "to loot the state".
Alleging that the State's milk production had been affected since the day Union Cooperative Minister Amit Shah spoke about the possibility of merging the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) with Amul, the former Chief Minister in a series of tweets asked the Prime Minister what his role had been in this.
Amul's move is being seen by many, especially opposition parties, as a threat to KMF's famed dairy brand 'Nandini'. They also see it as an attempt to trample upon KMF, amid a narrative around its merger with Amul.
"Is your purpose of coming to Karnataka to give to Karnataka or to loot from Karnataka? You have already stolen banks, ports and airports from Kannadigas. Are you now trying to steal Nandini (KMF) from us?" Siddaramaiah asked.
"It was Gujarat's Baroda Bank that subsumed our Vijaya Bank. Ports and Airports were handed over to Gujarat's Adani. Now, Amul from Gujarat is planning to eat our KMF (Nandini). Mr Narendra Modi, Are we the enemies for Gujaratis?"
Instead of giving 2 crore jobs a year to youths, Narendra Modi took away the jobs of Kannadigas from our banks, ports and airports, he further said, adding that "Now Karnataka BJP wants to hurt the prospects of our farmers by giving KMF to Amul."
Modi was in Mysuru and Chamarajanagara districts to attend an event commemorating 50 years of 'Project Tiger'.
The attacks from Siddaramaiah came despite Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday clarifying in this regard. Calling 'Nandini' the pride of Karnataka, and stating that his government had taken all kinds of measures to make it number one at the national level, Bommai said, "Nandini's market reach is wide, there is no need to fear Amul."
Congress politicising everything is not in the interest of the state, he had said. "We are also going to other states and marketing....we will do all that is required to put Amul behind in the competition."
State Cooperation Minister S T Somashekar on Sunday reiterated that there was no proposal to merge KMF with Amul.
"If Amul sells milk online at Rs 57 per litre, we sell it at Rs 39. We are sending our products to Tamil Nadu and other states," he said, adding that it was impossible to erase the Nandini brand.
State BJP General Secretary C N Ashwathnarayan criticised former Chief Ministers Siddaramaiah of Congress and H D Kumaraswamy of JDS for making "irresponsible statements" on the issue.
Stating that it was clear that Amul was trying to indulge in unnecessary competition with KMF and was planning to trample Nandini day by day, Kumaraswamy had said "Unhealthy competition between well-known sister organisations in the cooperative sector is not in anyone's interest. KMF directly buys milk from farmers through cooperative societies in thousands of villages in the state."
Prime Minister @narendramodi avare,
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) April 9, 2023
Is your purpose of coming to Karnataka is to give to Karnataka or to loot from Karnataka?
You have already stolen banks, ports & airports from Kannadigas. Are you now trying to steal Nandini (KMF) from us?#AnswerMadiModi #SaveNandini pic.twitter.com/LooivhuEn3
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
