Hundreds of employees from the ailing public sector entity, Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) in Ranchi, set ablaze the effigy of the BJP Lok Sabha candidate on Wednesday, vowing against supporting him in the imminent parliamentary elections.

Expressing their frustrations, members of the HEC Bachao Majdoor Jan Sangharsh Samity rallied, brandishing placards denouncing BJP Lok Sabha MP from Ranchi, Sanjay Seth, and the local Hatia BJP MLA, Navin Jaiswal.

Bhawan Singh, an official from the samity, said: “We also burnt effigies of both the leaders and took a pledge against voting for the BJP MP candidate from Ranchi in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls.”

Coincidentally, the BJP had announced the nomination of sitting MP Sanjay Seth as its candidate for the Ranchi Lok Sabha seat just last Saturday.

“We will be reaching out to the residents in the HEC township in the coming days, appealing to ensure the defeat of Sanjay Seth,” said Bhawan Singh.

Despite repeated attempts to bring attention to their plight, Seth failed to address their concerns either in Parliament or with the concerned ministries at the Centre, Singh said.

The discontent was not limited to Seth alone; attendees also voiced their discontent against BJP state president Babulal Marandi and the party’s leader of Opposition in the Jharkhand Assembly, Amar Bauri. Their failure to acknowledge the hardships faced by HEC employees during their addresses at Dhanbad, coinciding with the Prime Minister’s recent visit earlier this month, was criticised.

On February 22, thousands of PSU employees staged a massive protest before the BJP state headquarters in Ranchi, demanding the Centre’s intervention in clearing their pending salaries, which have been outstanding for nearly 22 months, and the revival
of the PSU.

“Unfortunately, despite submitting our petition at the BJP office, none of the BJP leaders bothered to even meet us,” Singh lamented.

The agitating employees highlighted HEC’s significant contributions to projects like Chandrayaan-3 and the Aditya L1 solar project of Isro, emphasising the company’s pivotal role in building the launchpad for the Aditya project.

The deteriorating state of HEC, despite numerous orders, was underscored in a letter submitted by the employees at the BJP office. The missive pointed out the absence of modernisation efforts and the non-payment of salaries for the past 21 months, alongside the lack of a permanent managing director for the past two and a half years.

Furthermore, the letter referenced a recommendation by Niti Aayog member V.K. Saraswat for the modernisation of HEC and urged the revival of the bank guarantee system for the PSU while ensuring working capital at the earliest.

Notably, INDIA bloc leaders had previously rallied for HEC workers in September last year at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. JMM Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji also raised the issue in the Upper House concerning the non-payment of salaries for HEC workers.