Gujarat : Kanti Gamit Named Sumul Dairy Chairman

SURAT :  After weeks of internal wrangling over the top posts, the deadlock at Surat-Tapi District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union, popularly known as Sumul Dairy, has finally ended with former Gujarat minister and tribal leader Kantibhai Gamit appointed Chairman and Bharatsinh Solanki named Vice-Chairman.

The appointments come after the July board elections, in which the BJP-backed panel won 15 of the 16 elected seats. An independent candidate won the remaining seat from Olpad.

The selection of office-bearers had remained pending amid differences within the BJP camp. The leadership change assumes significance because Sumul has a wide network of milk producers and cooperative societies across Surat and Tapi districts.

Gamit, a former MLA from Songadh and former minister in the BJP government, now takes charge of one of South Gujarat’s key cooperative institutions. His appointment also brings a prominent tribal face to the top position.

The move is being viewed in political circles in the context of the BJP’s efforts to strengthen its organisation and support base in the tribal belt of South Gujarat ahead of the next Assembly election. However, the party has not publicly described the appointment as an electoral strategy.

Sumul’s board election itself had attracted considerable attention because of its importance in the cooperative sector. Reports ahead of the election noted that the dairy is linked with around 2.5 lakh milk producers across Surat and Tapi districts.

The cooperative, registered in 1951, has grown from its early milk-collection operations into a major dairy institution. Sumul’s official website describes it as one of the district milk unions supplying products through the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation network.

With Gamit and Solanki now at the helm, the focus will shift to strengthening milk procurement, producer welfare, cooperative expansion and the organisation’s future growth.