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Ready for poll: Tata Workers’ Union office in Jamshedpur. (Bhola Prasad)
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The ball has been set rolling for the much -awaited biennial elections of Tata Workers’ Union (TWU), which will be held after merging the constituencies of both the workers’ and the supervisors’ units in accordance with a Jharkhand High Court order.
The biennial polls of the Intuc-affiliated union of Tata Steel was earlier scheduled to be held under the supervision of the district administration on May 21. However, it had to be postponed for the panchayat by-election. The new poll date will be announced by additional deputy commissioner-cum-returning officer Ganesh Kumar next week.
The election committee at a meeting in Jamshedpur on Saturday evening discussed the method of finalising constituencies. In all, there will be 214 constituencies (various departments have been earmarked as constituencies) following the consent of various factions of TWU.
Sources said the election committee would meet again on Monday.
Following the high court order, the TWU polls would take place under the supervision of East Singhbhum deputy commissioner Himani Pande and senior superintendent of police Akhilesh Kumar Jha. The members of the Opposition faction had moved Jharkhand High Court with a plea to conduct the election in a free and fair manner.
The election will take place through a secret ballot. Over 450 government officials, who would double up as volunteers, will ensure smooth and fair polls. Another 200 government officials would be deputed during counting of votes, which will take place on the day of the election itself.
The ruling faction led by Raghunath Pandey as TWU president would seek re-election for the third consecutive term. Pandey first won in 2006 defeating R.B.B. Singh. He was again re-elected president in 2009.
According to the constitution of the union, the 214 elected committee members of the worker’s unit are entitled to elect the 11 office bearers which includes the president, the deputy president, the general secretary, four vice-presidents, three assistant secretaries and a treasurer. There are about 15,000 workers and supervisors in Tata Steel who would be eligible to vote.
Senior TWU functionary B.K. Dhinda said campaigning would begin soon after the date of election is announced. “The election would be monitored by the district administration. We are extending all necessary help so that that the election is conducted smoothly,” he said.
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