Daijiworld Media Network - Ahmedabad (SHP)

Ahmedabad, Sep 1: The ruling BJP in Gujarat suffered a major setback after Congress had a clean sweep at the Amul dairy elections, winning eight out of 12 seats in the elections to the board of directors representing the 11 blocks of the Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Limited, popularly known as Amul Dairy.

The elections were held on Saturday after the stipulated period of five years. Despite, BJP government’s effort to defeat Congress, its leader Ramsinh Parmar formed a panel with Congress MLA Rajendrasinh Parmar to retain his clout in a prestigious brand union in India. Back in 2017, Ramsinh Parmar had lost from Thasra after switching over to BJP. He was later elected as the chairman of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) with BJP’s mandate. However, Congress claimed he was still with the party. “We have swept the polls and got nine seats out of 13. Ramsinhbhai won uncontested and we count him in Congress fold,” said Rajendrasinh Parmar, vice chairman of the Union.

BJP MLA from Matar Kesarisinh Solanki lost to Congress’ Sanjay Patel, who had contested against him in the 2017 Assembly polls. Congress MLA from Anand Kanti Sodha Parmar won with 41 votes while Borsad MLA belonging to Congress, Rajendrasinh Parmar, who is also the vice-chairman of Amul, won the Borsad-Anklav seat.

As per sources, Rajendrasinh Parmar’s victory in Borsad was an all-out win for the Congress as the veteran leader bagged all the 93 votes cast in the Borsad block.

With around 1,050 registered voters, the elections held on Saturday had seen a voter turnout of 99.71%. Bimal Shah, a prominent Congress leader of the region was quoted as saying by the local media that “The victory reflects the popularity and strong base of Congress. We will continue to work for the people.”

Explaining Ramsinh Parmar’s move, sources said, "Parmar is a veteran and influential dairy sector leader from central Gujarat. He is not happy with the BJP after he was not re-appointed as chairman of GCMMF and lost to Congress MLA Kanti Parmar at Thasra constituency. He does not want to lose his influence in local politics and the dairy sector."

Incidentally, Brand Amul recently faced backlash for promoting a show on controversial Sudarshan TV in social media.