Mumbai, June 24: The formal split in the Shiv Sena-controlled SBI Employees' Union (SBIEU) took place on Tuesday with Sena leaders floating a new outfit - State Bank Karmachari Sena (SBKS) - at a convention in Mumbai.

Leaders of the existing union in the bank's Mumbai circle stayed away from the convention which was attended by senior Sena leaders like Sudhir Joshi, state education mininster (schools) and Gajanan Kirtikar, home minister, besides Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackery.

Addressing the gathering, Raj Thackery said all Shiv Sainiks would join the new outfit as this will be the formal Shiv Sena trade union wing in the banking sector. This effectively means that the existing union, run by a member owing allegiance to the Sena-controlled Sthaniya Lokadhikar Samiti and affiliated to the largely apolitical National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE), will be left with no choice but to dissolve its "independent" identity.

The Shiv Sena, a force to reckon with among blue-collar workers in Maharashtra through its labour arm - Kamgar Sena - has already spread its tentacles in the banking industry in Maharashtra. It has now formalised its hold over the SBI by floating a union directly associated to itself - the Karmachari Sena. Uddhav Thackery said the new union has already got over 600 members under its fold. An ad hoc committee was constituted and Utta Yadav, former assistant general secretary of the existing union, has been appointed as a convenor. "We have got good response from Aurangabad, Nagpur and other zones. We hope to consolidate our position soon," he said.

The flotation of the Karmachari Sena has been prompted by the Sena's political decision not to allow bank employees to continue with their dual membership.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.