Overview
- The Krishna District Milk Union has announced a ₹2-per-litre increase for Vijaya Dairy that the CPI(M) says will take effect on September 14, and the party staged a dharna at the factory that briefly stopped milk vehicles.
- CPI(M) leaders demanded an immediate rollback of the hike and held Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and coalition partners responsible while warning of escalated protests and electoral consequences.
- At a Vijayawada press conference the party broadened its demands to include a ₹1 lakh crore central drought relief package and one-off cash support of ₹50,000 to each affected farming family.
- CPI(M) cited sharp kharif sowing losses, large crop-loss estimates and unscheduled power cuts that are affecting borewells, but the crop-loss figures and fiscal estimates were presented as party claims and not independently verified in the reporting.
- The party warned that repeated cooperative price increases could prompt private dairies to raise rates too, which would raise household costs and make milk prices a live local-election issue.