In a yet another major blow to the K Chandrasekhar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi, the Telangana Coal Mine Workers Association, the party's affliated union has decided to snap ties with the pink party.
This decision was taken at a meeting held last week by the coal mine workers attached to the BRS-led union at a private function hall in Godavarikhani.
The union said that they are separating themselves from politics and no longer consider Kalvakuntla Kavitha, daughter of former Telangana chief minister KCR, as the honorary president of the Telangana Coal Mine Workers Association (Telangana Boggu Gani Karmika Sangham or TBGKS) in Singareni.
BRS faces multiple setbacks
When the BRS government was in power in Telangana, the Singareni coal mine's labour union formed under the leadership of K Kavitha, served as an affiliated trade union of the ruling BRS party.
This labour union, which was active in Kothagudem, Satthupalli, Bhupalapalli, Manchiryala and Godavarikhani areas under Singareni, was shocked by the defeat of the BRS in the assembly elections last year and more recently, the arrest of its honorary president K Kavitha by the ED. Kavitha is currently in ED custody.
Moreover, BRS leaders seem to be rapidly deserting the party to join the Telangana Congress. In this situation, BRS' survival in Maharashtra has also become questionable. Therefore, the labour union has also decided to distance itself from the party.
What BRS did for Singareni coal mine workers
In a meeting with the workers, Kavitha had reminded them that the KCR-led BRS government was the one to give jobs to 20,000 dependents of families working in the Singareni coal mines. These jobs were cancelled due to the trade unions attached to the Congress and Left parties, she had said. Moreover, ₹25 lakh was paid to the families who did not want the jobs for dependants, Kavitha had pointed out.
At that time, Kavitha claimed that KCR was responsible for leading Singareni, one of the largest coal mining companies in the country, on the path of profits. In the past, under the call given by Kavitha, Singareni workers also went on strike against the Center's move to privatize the profit-making Singareni coal mines.
To win the support of the coal mine workers, Kavitha had even dressed up their uniform with the miner's trademark cap on her head, and held many meetings with the workers.
During the COVID pandemic, she also advised the workers to take measures to control the disease. Kavitha made several attempts in the past to get the Singareni workers to back the BRS. She also drove home the message that KCR is a champion of the coal mine workers and was the one to save Singareni.
According to KCR, the company Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCCL) was in the doldrums until the BRS came to power in the state. He held the Congress responsible for the Centre taking a 49 per cent stake in the company, though it was a 100 per cent asset of Telangana set up under Nizam rule.
KCR family in the dock
After the assembly election debacle, the BRS seems to be in more trouble as a series of court cases have been registered against KCR's family.
The most prominent one is against K Kavitha in the Delhi liquor policy scam case for which she has been taken under ED custody. Alleging corruption in the major Kaleeshwaram irrigation project fronted by KCR and Harish Rao, the ruling Congress government has instituted an inquiry; KTR is being investigated in the ORR lease and car racing scams and former MP Joginapalli Santosh Rao in land grabs and land scams.
No more political interference
The leaders of the TBGKS then announced their decision to snap ties with BRS. The announcement that they will no longer be a labour union affliated to the BRS party was made on March 24.
The labour leaders said that they will not be associated with the BRS party anymore as Kavita's attitude has caused them a lot of damage. The TBGKS itself lost control of the SCCL, they said, and criticised the involvement of BRS leaders in their union for the past ten years. Earlier, they used to put forth their demands before the management but the BRS leaders started interfering and starting contacting the management directly on the behalf of the workers.
The union has cancelled all the existing committees and Kavitha's position as the honorary president of TBGKS Singareni Coal Mine Workers Union, has been scrapped.
Labour leaders have made it clear that they will not tolerate BRS' interference in their union anymore.
After cancelling the existing committees, a new steering committee has been formed under the chairmanship of Miryala Rajireddy and a general body meeting is expected to be convened in the next 14 days.
Miryala Rajireddy expressed his gratitude for electing him as the chairman of the Steering Committee as per the resolution of the Working Committee of the Telangana Coal Mine Workers Union. Rajireddy stated that they will rebuild the labour union beyond the world of politics. And they will independently fight SCCCL workers' rights and welfare, he asserted.
They will contest the next elections as an independent labour union, he pointed out.