CPI(M) & CPI Support UKD Candidate
Vijay Rawat
AT the time of writing this the by-election to the Dwarahat assembly constituency in Almora district is due on October 13. This by election was necessitated because of the untimely and unfortunate death of Bipin Tripathi, the president of the state unit of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) and an MLA from Dwarahat assembly constituency.
Tripathi was essentially a democrat, committed to the struggles of the hill people of Uttarakhand. Although he differed with the CPI(M) for many years on some issues, of late he had come to realise that the problems being faced by the Uttarakhandi people could be solved only by united actions in which the CPI(M), the CPI and the UKD will have to take part. A manifestation of this change in understanding was evident during the Lok Sabha elections in which the UKD and CPI(M) shared a common platform against the BJP and in evolving an alternative democratic choice in the state. The united protest actions after the sad custodial death of Baba Uttarakhandi and the Chetavani march to the residence of the CM on August 10 and August 14 in which UKD, CPI and CPI(M) took part were contributions made by Bipin Tripathi. On August 14, he along with UKD MLAs, CPI(M) and CPI leaders and activists led a massive march of the people to the chief minister’s residence. A memorandum was submitted concerning regional demands – changing the name of the state, shifting the capital, rights over the resources etc. [more]
