There is a complex relation between politics and business. Take the instance of the dairy industry and Gujarat. If 17 years ago, an anguished Dr Verghese Kurien, pre-empting his removal, stepped down as founder-chairman of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), the slew of “removals/ resignations” in recent times of big names in the milking business are pointers at things having turned sour.
The ouster of GCMMF Managing Director Rupinder Singh Sodhi falls into the list of unceremonious exits of high-profile management who did not toe the political line. Since Sodhi’s exit, Baroda Dairy chairman Dinesh Patel alias Dinu Mama has quit, and on January 21 three top officials of Surat’s SUMUL dairy were removed on charges of irregularities. The Baroda and Surat dairies are members of the GCMMF.
The intense politicking is solely over wresting control over a body that not only has an annual turnover of Rs 61,000 crore, but also has under its umbrella a sizeable 36.4 lakh farmers among milk producers of the 18 district dairy unions.
In the case of Sodhi too, at least two members of the GCMMF board said his ouster was political. There was no farewell for him either. The GCMMF did not even issue a statement. Two days after remaining incommunicado, GCMMF chairman Shamal Patel confirmed it was the decision of the board.
The board of directors at the GCMMF, on condition of anonymity, shared that Sodhi was asked to step down on the directors of “the party (BJP)” and the decision was taken to “save the Amul brand”. “Two decades ago, leaders of the milk unions in Gujarat were aligned with the Congress. Now the baton has passed on to the BJP,” said a former member of the GCMMF. No wonder then that milk cooperative leaders like Ramsinh Parmar, Vipul Chaudhary and Parthi Bhatol, who were all part of the Congress when Dr Kurien headed GCMMF, have gradually shifted their allegiance to the BJP, which now controls Gujarat’s milk cooperatives.
Presenting the last annual report as the GCMMF chairman for the year 2004-05, Dr Kurien had stressed on professionals heading cooperatives. Fearing that the cash-rich milk cooperatives can easily turn into an arena for political wrestlers, Kurien in his speech had cautioned: “No political consideration must colour the policies, objectives, strategies and functioning of a co-operative.”
But Kurien was the last non-political chairman of the GCMMF.
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