Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia on Sunday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for using Amul's co-operative success story as a 'political platform'. Modhwadia told reporters that it was for the first time that a political speech was being made from the grounds of Amul.
"Amul is a movement of the farmers. It has never been used as a political platform by anyone. This is the first time that a political flag has been unfurled from the organisation and it is being used to propagate the ideas of a party," said Modhwadia.
He also rued the fact that the Father of the White Revolution in India, Dr Verghese Kurien was not even mentioned or remembered by the Prime Minister during his hour-long speech. "Amul is not just the pride of Gujarat but that of the whole country. The PM was quick to criticise previous Congress governments for their alleged roadblocks in the co-operative movement. But what he did not mention is that the leaders who initiated and strengthened the co-operative movement in the country and Gujarat were all from Congress," Modhwadia said.
His comments came after Modi, during the inauguration of Rs 1,100 crore worth projects in and around Anand had indirectly said that earlier governments had prevented the growth of cooperative sector in Saurashtra and the strides the sector had made were the result of friendly policies of the successive BJP governments. Modhwadia also sought to know from the PM, before he left Gujarat, if his government would give the farmers 'full cost' of their milk production.
