Mysuru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday dared BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate B.S. Yeddyurappa to contest from the Varuna constituency here in the May 12 assembly election.

"I challenge Yeddyurappa to contest from Varuna if he is so sure of winning instead of fielding his second son (B.Y. Vijayendra) against my son Yathindra," Siddaramaiah told reporters here.

Though the Chief Minister was re-elected twice from Varuna since 2008 assembly poll, he is likely to field Yathindra this time, as he is planning to contest from Chamundeshwari in the same district.

He said that the BJP, which failed to win a single seat in the Mysuru region in May 2013 assembly election now "boasts of defeating me or my son this time. I accept the challenge. Let Yeddyurappa or his son contest against me or my son".

"As the people of Varuna know of my contribution to the constituency, they will certainly vote for those who worked and none else," said Siddaramaiah.

Questioning Yeddyurappa's credentials to contest from any assembly segment in Mysuru region, he asked what was the BJP leader's contribution to the region or the state during his three-year tenure.

"What is his (Yeddyurappa) connection with Varuna or Mysuru. As people are wise, they know whom to vote. Even if my son contests, people will vote for him and not Yeddyurappa's son (Vijayendra)," he said.

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New Delhi, Nov 21: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday launched the Karnataka Milk Federation's (KMF) Nandini brand milk products in the Delhi-NCR market, pricing them marginally lower than competitors to gain a foothold in the region.

The cooperative will retail four cow milk variants, curd, and buttermilk from Friday, with competitive pricing that undercuts established players like Mother Dairy and Amul.

Cow milk will be sold at Rs 56 per litre, full Cream Milk at Rs 67 per litre, Standardised Milk at Rs 61 per litre, Toned Milk at Rs 55 per litre, and curd at Rs 74 per kg.

"We have surplus milk in the state. KMF along with Mandya Milk Union will market surplus milk of 3-4 lakh litres per day in Delhi-NCR," Siddaramaiah told reporters after launching the products.

The federation currently collects 100 lakh litres of milk daily, with local consumption at 60 lakh litres, leaving a surplus of 40 lakh litres for expansion into new markets.

However, the Chief Minister acknowledged the challenges of transporting milk over 2,500 km, which takes 50-54 hours.

There is a need to find new markets for surplus milk and gradually the KMF should be able to sell 5-6 lakh litres per day in Delhi-NCR, he added.

KMF Chairman LBP Bheemanaik assured that milk quality would be maintained during transit.

The federation has already partnered with 40 dealers in the Delhi-NCR region to facilitate sales, he added.

With a robust infrastructure of 26.76 lakh milk producers, 15,737 dairy cooperative societies, and 15 district milk unions, KMF has a turnover of Rs 25,000 crore and exports dairy products to over 25 countries.

State Animal Husbandry Minister K Venkatesh and Agriculture Minister N Cheluvarayaswamy were present at the product launch.