The much-awaited elections for the Rourkela Steel Plant’s labour union recognition were completed on Tuesday. Though its vote percentage slashed this time, the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS)-affiliated Rourkela Ispat Karakhana Karmachari Sangh (RIKKS) won the polls once again.
The poll results came as a setback to local BJP MLA Dilip Ray as the Rourkela Shramik Sangh (RSS), which was supported by him, was convincingly defeated.
Two other unions, Hindustan Mazdoor Sabha (HMS)-affiliated Rourkela Mazdoor Sabha (RMS) and Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU)-affiliated Steel Employees Trade Union (SETU) were also worst sufferers with 965 and 308 votes, respectively. Surprisingly the united forum of six unions got only 40 votes. Similar was the fate of the Aam Mazdoor Sangathan and the Rourkela Workers’ Union.
Out of the total 13,095 voters, 12, 423 turned up. While the RIKKS bagged 4,861 (39.13%) votes and got elected, the RSS and the Gangpur Mazdoor Manch (GMM) became second and third positions by getting 3,730 (30.02%) and 2,353 (18.94%) votes, respectively.
In the last (2014) elections, the RIKKS had got 7,329 votes (51.89%) out of total 14,124 votes. Similarly, the GMM had got 2,666 votes (18.87%).
In 2014, a dispute in the RSS, affiliated to the INTUC, was at its peak with the union getting split into two groups between its founder MDN Panikar and Prasant Behera. While the Behera group had contested in the name of RSS, the Panikar faction had extended its support to the RIKKS. So, the RSS lost miserably getting only 944 votes.
Though this time the Panikar and Behera groups fought united, they failed to counter the RIKKS, which though having never touched a 500-figure till 2010, was not only elected for the first time in 2014 by a huge margin but has now succeeded in maintaining its victory this time too.
Besides fighting for the steel plant recognition, this year’s election carried much importance from political point of view because it was an open secret that MLA Dilip Ray had played an important role in the merger of the two RSS factions. Ray’s close BJP aide Harihar Routray is the working president of the RSS in its new committee.
Moreover, many other BJP leaders, close to Ray, rallied behind the RSS all through the election process.
On the contrary, local MP, BJP leader and Union Minister Jual Oram and many other BJP leaders extended support to the RIKKS. So virtually, the BJP was polarised here; and it was a talk in the steel city that the union recognition election was not a fight between RSS and RIKKS, rather it was a war between Ray and Oram.
As nothing is going good in the BJP for Ray, many were thinking that the election results would not only reflect Ray’s popularity level but would also determine his future in the BJP. Notably, during the election campaign many of Ray’s aides were removed from their party posts and many more are likely to be eliminated.
In a matter of major significance, Dilip Ray’s in-BJP opponent Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan would hold a programme in Rourkela in February which may be a challenging affair for Ray.
Besides, the union election results have also doubts about the BJD’s popularity here because the party was extending its support to RMS with many frontline leaders including Subrat Tarai, Sarada Nayak and Anand Mohanty actively rallying behind it.
Despite this, the RMS got only 965 votes and came out fourth in the race in contrast of it finishing third in the 2014 union elections getting 1,885 votes. Interestingly now, the RMS president Rajendra Prasad Singh is also the president of Biju Shramik Sammukhya.