Ahmedabad, Aug. 9: Narendra Modi has pulled off a coup — and it must be sweeter than a milkshake.

The beleaguered Gujarat chief minister has weaned away a powerful figure in the state’s dairy business from the Opposition Congress.

Milk boss Vipul Chaudhary, a former home minister and protégé of Modi’s political rival Shankersinh Vaghela, switched loyalties to the saffron camp after a “settlement” with the BJP leader saw him reinstated as chairman and director of the Mehsana District Cooperative Milk Producers Union. He had been sacked seven months ago for alleged irregularities in recruitment.

The dairy strongman, who wields considerable influence in at least a dozen Assembly seats in Mehsana and two adjoining districts, confirmed that he had reached an agreement with Modi “in the interest of farmers and milk producers of north Gujarat”.

Come August 15, the two are likely to seal their bond in public. Sources said Chaudhary could make a public appearance with Modi when the chief minister visits Mehsana, where he plans to celebrate Independence Day.

As a reciprocal gesture, Chaudhary has decided to invite the chief minister to the campus of Dudhsagar Dairy — something unthinkable until recently when the milk boss was still a Congressman — to unveil the statue of a former chairman of the Mehsana union.

Chaudhary has for several years been at the helm of the five-lakh-strong Mehsana union, one of the largest in the Rs 4,278-crore Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation. The union owns Dudhsagar Dairy, which has an average milk procurement of over 16 lakh litres a day. It also owns the Sagar brand.

The coup has come at a time Modi is under attack from his own partymen and some BJP rebels are hobnobbing with the Congress.

Yesterday, a dissident even accused him of concealing his marriage.

Son of a former Congress MP, Chaudhary was a contender for the federation’s top job after Verghese Kurien was forced to step down last year as its chairman.

But the Modi government did not want him as chairman. An upset Chaudhary later walked out of the federation’s election process when a lightweight Modi loyalist, Parthi Bhatol, succeeded Kurien.

Chaudhary’s relations with the federation strained further when he appointed Kurien his adviser against the wishes of the political rulers in Gandhinagar. At one stage, he even threatened to separate the Sagar and Dudhsagar brands from the federation.

When he was suspended on January 25, he moved court, alleging that the state machinery had removed him so that the BJP could gain control of the dairy. Now he is all praise for Modi.

“You know what is happening in Gujarat politics,” Chaudhary said when asked what prompted him to join hands with the man who did not allow him to become the federation’s chief. “You can analyse the situation for yourself.”

Congress leaders claimed his exit will not affect the party, but the development is significant because it is a morale booster for the BJP in north Gujarat, where Ramila Desai, a suspended BJP MLA, has heightened political activities.

Modi is likely to field Chaudhary against Desai.

Chaudhary said though Kurien had advised him not to mix business with politics, he would not disappoint supporters and members of his dairy if they want him to contest the coming state elections on a BJP symbol.