CPI-affiliate AITUC wins election for recognised union status in Singareni Collieries, BRS union crushed

Congress affiliated-INTUC finished second while the BRS-sponsored Telangana Boggu Gani Karmika Sangha (TBGKS) was wiped out, as its worst fears came true.

The union that polls the maximum number of votes in all the divisions put together is declared as the recognised union, and those that poll majority votes in divisions are declared representative unions in the respective divisions.

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INTUC won 6 divisions, AITUC in five

The INTUC has a reason to celebrate as it has won six of the 11 divisions, pipping the AITUC to second place with five divisions. It means that it has become the representative union in the six divisions it has won. The AITUC was declared as recognised union since it polled the highest number of votes despite winning a one less division than INTUC.

The AITUC won Bellampally, Mandamarri, Srirampur, Ramagunda-I, and Ramagundam-II while INTUC bagged Corporate office, Illendu, Manuguru, Kothagudem, Bhupalpally and Ramagundam-III.

For the TBGKS, it is a significant setback as it has been enjoying the status of a recognised union for the last six years. After the BRS lost the Assembly election, party supremo and former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao asked the TBGKS not to contest in the election as he feared the BRS’ recent flop show in the Assembly election might have an adverse fall out on the union elections.

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KCR writ against BRS union contesting does not run

But his direction against contesting in the election led to the desertion of TGBKS leaders, forcing union honorary president and BRS MLC K Kavitha to beat a hasty retreat, announcing that the TGBKS was very much in the fray.

By daybreak on Thursday, AITUC burst out into celebrations as it is after a very long time that it has come to enjoy the recognised union status in the SCCL. The last time it enjoyed the status was in 1998 and 2001.

The INTUC had the status in 2003 and 2007. The TBGKS was the official union in 2012 and 2017. For the last two years, there have been no elections, and the management, apparently on the government’s advice, has been putting off elections as the union has not been in the pink of health for quite some time now.

Its latest attempt to seek the postponement of the elections to a date after the Lok Sabha polls were dismissed by the High Court, forcing the management to hold the elections on Wednesday, 27 December.

With the TBGKS losing the elections, the BRS would have to quickly come out with a fresh narrative for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections, where the Singareni miners are also voters in about 11 Assembly segments, which are part of five Lok Sabha constituencies. In the recent Assembly elections, the Congress and its ally CPI won 10 segments while Asifabad went to BRS’ Kova Lakshmi.