13 hours ago
DK Suresh elected Bengaluru Milk Union chairman, eyes KMF post
B
engaluru: Former Bangalore Rural MP, DK Suresh, brother of deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar, was elected unopposed as chairman of Bengaluru Milk Union (Bamul) on Thursday.
This marks Suresh's first electoral victory since his defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He secured the Bamul chairmanship after winning a seat on the union's board representing Kanakapura. Alongside Suresh, 10 other Congress-backed candidates had previously won seats, bringing the party's total to 11 out of 14 on the union board.
With this strong backing, Suresh submitted his nomination papers for the chairman post and was declared winner without opposition.
Sources suggest Suresh is poised to contest the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) chairman post, elections to which are likely in July. KMF oversees 16 milk unions across Karnataka's lucrative dairy industry and wields considerable political clout.
However, Suresh's nomination for the KMF post could run into stiff resistance since chief minister Siddaramaiah's camp is backing Malur MLA KY Nanje Gowda. The situation is further complicated by current KMF chairman LBP Bheema Naik's claim that Siddaramaiah had assured him of another term.
In fact, Naik, recently met Siddaramaiah regarding a delay in elections of another milk union spanning Raichur, Ballari, and Vijayanagara districts (RBKV). Naik expressed concern that the delay could diminish his support base and ruin his chance of winning again.
Speaking to a Kannada news channel, Naik said the Dharwad bench of the high court cleared the way for elections on June 2, following a previous stay order.
However, he claimed that the deputy commissioner of Ballari district, who wrote to the Cooperative Election Commissioner on June 12, has not taken steps to conduct the polls.
Naik further alleged that some Congress MLAs and cooperative representatives in Ballari are dissatisfied with cooperation minister KN Rajanna. "I tried to contact Rajanna, but he is not answering my calls," Naik said. "Rajanna and I are like brothers. "Some vested interests have given him incorrect information which is why he is delaying polls."
