Dairy co-ops pull out all stops

After years of holding their horses rather, cows, the influential dairy co-operatives of Gujarat have decided to actively join the electoral battle.

After years of holding their horses rather, cows, the influential dairy co-operatives of Gujarat have decided to actively join the electoral battle. Though they have always been involved in elections-campaigning and funding candidates and a stray case of contesting-for the first time, the chairmen of three of the 13 cooperative dairies affiliated to the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation GCMMF are in the fray.

While Ramsinh Parmar, chairman of Kaira Dairy, one of the oldest co-operative dairies in the state, is contesting on a Congress ticket, Vipul Chaudhary of Mehsana Dairy and Madhu Srivastava of Baroda Dairy are BJP candidates.

The state8217;s dairy co-operatives enjoy a strong network in rural areas and some on the board of directors of different dairy cooperatives in the state have always been actively involved in politics. Their involvement can prove to be very influential and as in the past, can swing votes in favour of the candidates they back.

Incidentally, dairy co-operatives have till now been a Congress bastion, but the BJP has been making inroads. In October this year, Chaudhary of Mehsana Dairy was dramatically inducted into the BJP at a Modi rally. The BJP even dropped some charges against him that were earlier slapped on him.

Chaudhary was minister of state for home in the Keshubhai Patel government before he joined the dairy sector. Chaudhury, who enjoys the support of the Chaudhary-Patel community, is vying for Bhiloda constituency in North Gujarat and is up against sitting MLA Anil Joshiyara of the Congress.

Chaudhary said, 8220;I can influence entire North Gujarat8217;s five districts and I doubt that being from dairy cooperative will help win outside ones area.8221; There is also talk that the son of the chairman of Banas Dairy Parthi Bahtol had asked for a BJP ticket from Palanpur but was denied one.

Kaira Diary chairman Ramsinh Parmar, who lost to BJP8217;s Bhagwansinh Chauhan in the 2002 wave from Thasra, said, 8220;As a dairy chairman, we are actively involved at the rural level.8221;

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He said his dairy had recently lent Rs 100 crore for farmers to purchase cattle. 8220;There is strong anti-Modi wave among farmers who are now fuming over the Rs 100 hike in the price of sulphate bags.8221; He said a bag that costs Rs 200 now costs Rs 312.

In Vadodara, Srivastav was made chairman by the BJP-led government to wrest power from the Congress-dominated Baroda Dairy. Recently, Srivastav faced strong resentment from dairy farmers after he ordered the closure of over 150 village milk producers8217; committees recently.