The political party which had a major role in the movement which resulted in creation of Uttarakhand state- the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal is also contesting the Lok Sabha elections. However, the party which once had four members in the State assembly and now has none, appears to have been on a downward spiral for some years now. Still, members of the party state that the issues raised by the UKD are different than those raised by the other parties contesting the elections.
UKD office bearer Sunil Dhyani said, “The national political parties have been showing the people a picture that is hollow and fake. However being a party which has seen every village of this state closely we know the main issues. Our manifesto this time will have green bonus, implementing section 370, better employment for our people and most importantly, tackling migration. We ensure necessary work at the ground level.”
It should be mentioned here that the UKD was founded in 1979 in Mussoorie under the chairmanship of the former vice-chancellor of Kumaon University, DD Pant. It was not only the sole regional party of the state but also the first political party to raise the demand for creation of the Uttarakhand state. In 1994, the party also played a role in steering an anti-reservation protest into a broader movement in support of the demand for a separate state. One of the party stalwarts Indramani Badoni, also referred to as ‘Gandhi of Uttarakhand’ for his leading role in the statehood movement which had remained non-violent despite provocation from varied quarters, was elected to the Uttar Pradesh assembly as an independent candidate from Devprayag constituency in 1977. He used non-violent means including hunger strike and folk ballads to fuel the Statehood movement but died in 1999 before the creation of Uttarakhand in 2000. Even before creation of Uttarakhand, UKD candidate Jaswant Singh Bisht was elected from Ranikhet assembly constituency in 1980 while in 1985 Kashi Singh Airy was elected from Pithoragarh in 1985.
Political analysts opine that party leaders like Kashi Singh Airy, Diwakar Bhatt and BD Raturi were unable to lead the party to a better position after Badoni’s demise. Despite the major role it had played in the statehood movement, the party failed to win mass support of the electors in the 19 years since formation of Uttarakhand. It has so far also failed to achieve its aim of establishing a viable third front to provide the voters an alternative to the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party. A party member said, “Revolutionary leaders of this party were never politicians- they were more of fighters which was one of the setbacks that dragged us down and we still are facing the consequences. Every political party faces ups and downs and so did we. We do lack financial resources which other parties have and there are other factors too. However, still there are people who believe in the UKD and we will continue to fighting for the people of the State. It is time that people of our state think of their good rather than being influenced by the glossy and hollow picture shown by the other political parties,” he opined.