Amul vs Nandini: Whom to believe? BJP or Opposition?

21 APR 2023

Opposition: Amul has entered Karnataka to compete and bring down Karnataka’s proud brand Nandini. And the force behind this not Amul, but BJP!

BJP: Have we given any concessions to Amul whatsoever? How can we come in the way, if one business competes with another? How can we go against the Constitution which assures an Indian can operate in any corner of the country and earn his living? Is Karnataka a foreign territory to seek permission before entry by any Indian business?

Opposition: Even our great leader the other day tasted Nandini ice cream and said it tastes very good!

BJP: Who expects him to say “No, it is not good”. How do you compare the taste of one ice cream to another? Are tastes primarily individualistic in the sense what you like I may not like and vice-versa. Just because your “leader” has said something, is there any rule that the whole country should follow what he said?

Opposition: Is there no other state for Amul to go to?

BJP: Ask Amul, not us! I am sure as a shrewd business enterprise, they would have done their own homework and found out that Karnataka Market cannot be ignored anymore and it is time for them to enter.

Opposition: The ruling party has the power to prevent Amul from entering Karnataka.

BJP: Yes, it can be done if we are a dictatorship; we are a democracy, not an authoritarian dictatorship or autocracy. You are telling democracy is in danger in India and seeking even outside colonial help to”save democracy and the Constitution”. But here you don’t want us to be democratic. Why this double standard in thinking? Is it an election gimmick and vote bank politics because of which you are protesting democratic values and what the Constitution permits as anyone’s right?

Opposition: But still you should have stopped Amul from entering Karnataka and competing with Nandini.

BJP: We are not running any businesses in India. We are not formulating business strategies for any organization or institution, private or cooperative. It is their prerogative and in a free economy like ours, they reap the consequences of their own strategies and business decisions driven by the market forces. We believe no political party should interfere in this.

Opposition: But the Nandini brand is threatened. And we see BJP hand in this.

BJP: What does BJP get by doing this? Do you think we are that stupid to do it and even that too just before elections? If we are that stupid, we would not have edged you out in a majority of Indian States. And on the lighter side, only Congress has got Hand and not us! Our emblem is lotus.

If a brand is really threatened, we are sure Nandini has the managerial capability to handle the competition. Why are you belittling the company’s and its management’s capability to handle competition and humiliating it?

Opposition: But it is much easier without competition to run an institution, why complicate it by making competition enter a market?

BJP: Complicate? What non-sense! Any system needs two opposites to keep it healthy and running effectively. For example, a functioning automobile has two opposites: Brake and accelerator. If one is missing, the automobile becomes dysfunctional and useless. Same thing with businesses: The competition is the essential brake on a business, without it the business will crash like a car without brake. This is exactly what happened during license raj: When we could not get license, which was dished out as per whims and fancies of the govt., many public sector collapses took place. Look at banks after nationalization and now- Oh! What a difference in everything including the difficult intangible namely the quality of service to the customers of the bank.

Opposition: But without Amul in Karnataka, Nandini will run so smoothly.

BJP: Yes, sure: like a brakeless vehicle. It will crash sooner than later.

Opposition: But it has not crashed for so many years! And it has become a cherished brand.

BJP: That is because Nandini has found a segment in which it has very less competition. Look at the prices of Amul and Nandini. There is a great difference between them for a similar ice-cream. So, the vast majority of people who are not so rich but love to have ice creams, buy Nandini. But the relatively rich will go for Amul, because they can afford, and may be for prestige value also. So indeed, Nandini has had much less competition from small time ice cream makers, but its quality is so good that it has attained the brand name it has today. Any brand like Nandini cannot be erased so easily as you make it out to be. See what brand name of Congress did, it was well-nigh impossible to defeat it until Modiji came out with a strategy which the congress could not even understand at first. Once you have given the lead for years, it is difficult for you to make up. It is like running a 200 meters race with one starting 50 metres after start-line. And you have no strategy at all to counter BJP and its charismatic leader: You think you can get it back by Modi Blasting and opposing for opposing sake. That has proved to be a blunder of a strategy, as proven by election after election, but you are blind, deaf and mute to what the people- the ultimate source of power in a democracy- are saying through elections. But this strategy of yours suits us phenomenally. In fact, it is a great help for us.

Opposition: But Amul should not enter Karnataka.

BJP: Amul should enter Karnataka for making Nandini stronger, not only in Karnataka but in the rest of the country and even world. We are sure the shrewd management of Nandini will find a way of doing this. Also, if not Amul some other international brand may enter India tomorrow and threaten Nandini. What can you do then? Our advice to you is take your eyes of vote bank if really want to make a mark. People know you will forget them and Karnataka and Nandini as soon as elections are over. But why are we educating the opposition, our competitor? The current opposition is the best gift from above we have got. So, let us at least not educate the competitor, when our competitor – the opposition is dong such a fine job – for us and against themselves.