Kolkata: Politics, they say, makes strange bedfellows. But it doesn't get any stranger than this year's union election in Kolkata airport.
A union that Trinamool Congress had formed after it swept to power in the state in 2011and backed the Congresssupported Indian Airports Kamgar Union (IAKU) in the 2013 Airports Authority of India (AAI) trade union elections, isn't in fray this time. Airports Authority Staff & Workers Union (AASWU) has been dissolved. Its general secretary Pradip Sikdar is now secretary of Airports Authority Employees Union (AAEU) that used to enjoy Left support and was led by CPM's Dipankar Ghosh. Ghosh has moved to IAKU and is now its joint general secretary.
Since BJP's Bharatiya Majdoor Sangh has no presence in Kolkata, party leader Sayantan Bose is backing IAKU, while another BJP leader, Biplab Mitra, is doing the liaisoning between his party leaders and AAEU.
Last time round, AAEU polled 79 votes more than IAKU in Kolkata. Nationally, though, it was IAKU that ultimately gained recognition as it won 166 votes more than AAEU when results from 122 airports came in.
"I have been involved in elections for decades, but have never witnessed anything like this. It's as though everyone has been put in a big pot, churned and then served in two dishes labelled AAEU and IAKU," says Ghosh who has been involved in AAI elections for past two decades.
He blames the ruling party in the state and its win-atall-costs attitude for the musical chairs. "When AASWU realized they couldn't make headway, the leaders promptly dissolved it and usurped AAEU. I and several other leaders who had been in AAEU for decades were ousted. I was left with no option but switch to IAKU. This year, we will win at least 70% votes in Kolkata," he says.
06/02/18 Subhro Niyogi/Times of India
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A union that Trinamool Congress had formed after it swept to power in the state in 2011and backed the Congresssupported Indian Airports Kamgar Union (IAKU) in the 2013 Airports Authority of India (AAI) trade union elections, isn't in fray this time. Airports Authority Staff & Workers Union (AASWU) has been dissolved. Its general secretary Pradip Sikdar is now secretary of Airports Authority Employees Union (AAEU) that used to enjoy Left support and was led by CPM's Dipankar Ghosh. Ghosh has moved to IAKU and is now its joint general secretary.
Since BJP's Bharatiya Majdoor Sangh has no presence in Kolkata, party leader Sayantan Bose is backing IAKU, while another BJP leader, Biplab Mitra, is doing the liaisoning between his party leaders and AAEU.
Last time round, AAEU polled 79 votes more than IAKU in Kolkata. Nationally, though, it was IAKU that ultimately gained recognition as it won 166 votes more than AAEU when results from 122 airports came in.
"I have been involved in elections for decades, but have never witnessed anything like this. It's as though everyone has been put in a big pot, churned and then served in two dishes labelled AAEU and IAKU," says Ghosh who has been involved in AAI elections for past two decades.
He blames the ruling party in the state and its win-atall-costs attitude for the musical chairs. "When AASWU realized they couldn't make headway, the leaders promptly dissolved it and usurped AAEU. I and several other leaders who had been in AAEU for decades were ousted. I was left with no option but switch to IAKU. This year, we will win at least 70% votes in Kolkata," he says.
06/02/18 Subhro Niyogi/Times of India
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