PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun/New Tehri
Veteran Statehood movement leader, former cabinet minister and veteran leader of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, Diwakar Bhatt breathed his last at his Haridwar residence at the age of 79 on Tuesday. He was not keeping well for a prolonged period and had been undergoing treatment at a hospital in Dehradun till Tuesday. He passed away shortly after being brought to his home.
Condolences poured in from various quarters with chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressing condolences and praying for his salvation. The people will always remember the works he had done for the State and the public, he said. Also referred to as the field marshal of the Statehood movement, Bhatt had played a crucial role in the movement. The Bharatiya Janata Party State president Mahendra Bhatt expressed grief at the veteran’s demise while adding that the Sriyantra Tapu movement under his leadership had proved to be a milestone in the Statehood movement. He said that the veteran leader had made unprecedented contributions in the statehood movement and in the development of the State.
Meanwhile, his demise caused grief in the Tehri district in which he had represented the Devprayag Assembly constituency once. He was known to be well familiar with all details of the plains, Terai and mountainous regions of the State in Garhwal, Kumaon and Jaunsar. He first contested as the UKD candidate from Devprayag in the 2002 Assembly polls without success but won by a strong margin as the party’s candidate from the same party in 2007. He also served as a cabinet minister during this period as the party had supported the BJP government. He fought on the BJP ticket in 2012 without success and then as an independent in 2017 with the same result. He rejoined the UKD in 2022 but lost to the BJP candidate by a margin of 2,588 votes.
