Bengaluru: Amul’s announcement to sell milk and curd in the Bengaluru market has resulted in a surge of political tension in Karnataka. The Opposition party Congress has alleged that the ruling BJP is planning a scheme to destroy the state's successful dairy brand Nandini, media reports said.

Opposition leader Siddaramaiah and former chief Minister of Karnataka said the Gujarat-based dairy brand did try to enter the state when he was in officed from 2013 to 2018, said, but his government prevented their plan. “but now @BJP4Karnataka is welcoming them with open arms,” he tweeted.

“..they are now determined to destroy Nandini KMF - a brand built by our farmers,” Siddaramaiah tweeted.

Congress’s fresh attack on BJP seeking to pit the state’s millions of dairy farmers against the BJP has left the incumbent party in a tricky situation just ahead of the May 10 assembly polls. This was further fuelled by social media posts with #SaveNandini and #BanAmul hashtags.

Amul is planning to enter the highly profitable Bengaluru market at a time when the state's milk procurement has decreased, and the Karnataka Cooperative Milk Federation (KMF), which owns the Nandini brand, is finding it challenging to fulfill the demand.

Siddaramaiah suspects that there is a plot behind the decline in daily milk collection from 99 lakh liters to 71 lakh liters to benefit Amul.

The Amul vs Nandini controversy has been going on since Union Home Minister Amit Shah mentioned the possibility of collaboration between the two organisations during his visit to Karnataka in December.

The Opposition parties Congress and JDS interpreted the statement as an effort to merge the state's dairy brand with Amul, which provoked protests from dairy farmers.

This forced Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had to release a statement denying any possibility of merging Nandini with Amul.“Nandini will maintain its separate identity in the coming 100 years,” he had said.

The BJP is currently embroiled in another controversy over the dairy brand, marking the second time in a week.

Recently, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) caused an uproar in the southern states by directing Nandini and other dairy brands to use the term "Dahi" instead of "curd" on their sachets. However, after protests from regional parties, including Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, the FSSAI withdrew the notification swiftly.