BRS flip-flop on BGKS contesting Singareni elections may prove costly as trade unions prepare for the race

Since the SCCL has a huge workforce, the election for official recognition is important for all trade unions.

The BRS seems to be sceptical of the TBGKS’ capability to contest the polls.

Elections were last conducted at SCCL six years ago. The former BRS government in Telangana had been deferring the election since 2022, and the SCCL management even moved the court.

The Telangana High Court rejected the SCCL management’s plea and ordered the conduct of the polls. The management had requested to hold the elections after the Lok Sabha polls.

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Political fallout

The SCCL — spread over the Kumuram Bheem Asifabad, Mancherial, Peddapalli, Jayashankar-Bhupalpally, Bhadradri-Kothagudem, and Khammam districts — has 4,50,000 employees. The firm’s divisions are spread over 11 Assembly segments.

In the recent Assembly polls, the Congress and its ally — the CPI — won 10 seats, while the BRS came first only in Asifabad, represented by Kova Lakshmi. The divisions are spread over five Lok Sabha constituencies.

The BRS’ decision against contesting in the SCCL election had an unexpected effect on the union.

Three office-bearers sent their resignation letters to BRS MLC K Kavitha, the honorary president of the TGBKS.

They cited that they could not continue in a union that would not participate in elections.

The leaders who resigned were TGBKS president B Venkat Rao, general secretary Miryala Rajireddy, and working president K Mallaiah.

Soon after they tendered their resignations, Kavitha stated that the BGKS was in the fray and appealed to all workers to vote in its favour.

She sought their support saying that under the BRS dispensation, the SCCL management took care of the employees by awarding the highest-ever bonus, besides initiating several other welfare measures.

But the BRS flip-flop had, by then, done a lot of damage.

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Too little, too late

Kavitha said that if the workers got a 32 percent share of SCCL profits as a bonus, it was because of BRS chief and former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao.

The BRS was instrumental in providing 20,000 dependent jobs in the SCCL, she said, also reminding the workers of the ₹10 lakh interest-free home loan.

Winning or losing the SCCL elections would have a far-reaching impact on the prospects of the main parties in elections. It is believed that the BGKS victory in 2017 helped the BRS clinch the Assembly elections decisively in 2018.

Meanwhile, with the Lok Sabha polls getting closer, the INTUC is also expecting to win as many divisions as possible, which would galvanise Congress workers into action mode ahead of the parliamentary elections.

Though the INTUC is hopeful of winning the election, it cannot ignore the AITUC. Though their parent parties — the Congress and the CPI — are in an alliance at the state level, the AITUC is contesting alone.

In the 2017 elections, the BGKS had won nine of the 11 divisions. However, it is debatable if the BGKS could repeat or better the performance now.

Like the Congress, the INTUC has made six guarantees to the workers. Recently, state minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy, addressing the workers, listed out the six guarantees: Ensuring a policy shift in favour of underground mining as they employ a large workforce; prevention of privatisation; allotment of 250 square yard plots; interest-free loans of up to ₹20 lakh; exemption from payment of income tax as the management would bear the burden; the construction of a super-speciality hospital; and the modernisation of area hospitals.

The Telangana government holds 51 percent ownership of the SCCL while the rest is held by the Union Ministry of Coal.

The SCCL is currently operating 45 mines, including 20 open-cast ones, in the six districts of Telangana. The SCCL’s share in the domestic production of coal is about 9.2 percent.