PrashantNews
The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) claims that it is a front runner regional party formed in the year 1979 at Mussoorie and was instrumental in carving out Uttarakhand from Uttar Pradesh in the year 2000.
But after lagging behind in the state politics, the UKD has virtually become a nonentity in the state now. The party has been routed in the previous assembly elections. Most of its top leaders like Indermani Badoni, Vipin Tripathi, Ved Unniyal and B D Raturi have passed away. Other top leaders like Kashi Singh Airy and Diwakar Bhatt are also not very active in the party which once they founded for the cause of a separate state.
As Uttarakhand celebrated its 25th formation day on Saturday, the UKD leaders remained mostly forgotten.
In the last assembly election in 2022, the UKD has fielded 48 candidates out of the total 70 seats in the assembly election. However, all the 48 candidates were defeated as most of them lost their deposits also.
“This is a sad scenario that we didn’t win election. We don’t have money to compete with BJP and Congress,” said Airy, who himself has lost a couple of elections winning only once in the hill state. In the first assembly election in 2002 after the state came into existence, UKD won four seats. Out of these four, Airy was elected from Kanalichhina seat.
In the next assembly elections in 2007, the number of UKD seats decreased to three, which shrunk to one in 2012. In the 2017 elections, the party also could not open its account.
Airy said the party was formed in 1979 to strengthen the statehood movement for the creation of Uttarakhand.
Airy said Uttarakhand United Struggle Committee was formed to include everyone in the statehood movement, due to which the identity of UKD was lost and the party cadre got scattered.
Gairsain, located in Chamoli district, has always been a major issue of the UKD, which was in favour of making it as capital of the hill state. However, the party has failed to reap dividends on the issue.
When asked about UKD not being able to reach power in Uttarakhand like Jharkhand, Telangana and other states, Airy said that unlike these states, the feeling of nationalism is more in Uttarakhand. He said, ‘The people of states like Jharkhand have more feeling of regionalism while the people of Uttarakhand believe a lot in the feeling of nationalism or mainstream.’
Shiv Prasad Semwal, a senior journalist, who had worked in the UKD in the past, said there was too much internal democracy in the party due to which it could not rise. “Most of the leaders in the UKD kept pulling my leg when I was in UKD. Later I was ousted,” said Semwal, who claimed that he wanted to restore the old glory of the party.