SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, March 28: The rank and file of the BJP-led Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) affiliated Colliery Karmchari Sangh are peeved at the selection of All India Trade Union Cong (AITUC) leader Dhulu Mahto as the party’s candidate from the Dhanbad Lok Sabha seat.
CPI leads AITUC
The BMS is the BJP’s labour frontal organisation, while AITUC is the labour organisation of the Communist Party of India (CPI). Dhulu Mahto, a history-sheeter, is vice-president of AITUC, and the BJP has made him a party candidate from the Dhanbad Lok Sabha seat.
Dhanbad Colliery Karmchari Sangh (DCKS) working president Ramdhari Singh said the union would follow whatever directive comes from the high command. Still, he added, miner members are upset over the AITUC leader’s choice as the BJP nominee from the Dhanbad seat.
BMS vs AITUC
“Of course, Dhulu Mahto is a BJP MLA, but at the same time, he runs a trade union with AITUC (Communist Party). AITUC is the main rival of BMS. Miner members of DCKS are unable to digest it and will think twice about voting for him in the election,” said Ramdhari Singh.
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BMS role in elections
BMS, the largest trade union in the coal belt from a membership point of view, has played a major role in electing BJP candidates from the Dhanbad Lok Sabha seat, from Prof Rita Verma (1991 to 1999) to PN Singh (2009 to 2019). Even in the 2004 election, when Prof Verma faced anti–incumbency from her party workers, BMS supported her, and she was able to get over 2.50 lakh votes.
Dhulu opposes BJP-led centre’s policy
“The main point is that Dhulu Mahto’s AITUC is a rival of BMS in the Katras colliery area, where he has influence. Moreover, whenever opposition parties’ trade unions INTUC, Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), AITUC, and Central Industrial Trade Union (CITU) jointly called a coal industry strike in protest of the BJP-led central government policy, Dhulu Mahto, despite being three times MLA of the party, supported it. But simultaneously, when BMS calls a strike, he opposes,” said Ramdhari Singh.
A senior leader of Dhanbad Colliery, Karmchari Sangh, said that on February 16, 2024, opposition trade unions had called an all-India strike. Though it failed to invoke a response in the coal belt, he added that Dhulu Mahto supported the anti-central government stir.
“In such a situation, how would we ask our members (miners) to vote for Dhulu Mahto in the election? Such a situation never appeared when Rita Verma and PN Singh were party candidates as they never ran their private union in the colliery. Even today, BJP sadar MLA Raj Sinha and Sindri MLA Indrajit Mahto do not run a union. Of course, Nirsa MLA Aparna Sengupta and former Jharia MLA Sanjeev Singh have a separate union, but they had it before joining the BJP,” said the DCKS leader.
