Last Updated:
In his career, Diwakar Bhatt had reached the Assembly only once in 2007 by winning Devprayag seat and at that time when the BC Khanduri led government needed the support of outside MLAs, UKD MLA Bhatt came forward. In return he was made a cabinet minister.
Dehradun: Diwakar Bhatt, a founding member of Uttarakhand’s oldest regional party – Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, died on Tuesday at the age of 79. Diwakar Bhatt, who started his political journey as a trade union leader, was called “Field Marshal” by UKD patron Indramani Barauni because of his aggressive attitude. Regarding the formation of Uttarakhand state, Diwakar Bhatt had gone to a very high Chhota Khait mountain in Tehri district. The effect of this was that the central government led by the then Narasimha Rao called him for talks.
In his career, Diwakar Bhatt had reached the Assembly only once in 2007 by winning Devprayag seat and at that time when the BC Khanduri led government needed the support of outside MLAs, UKD MLA Bhatt came forward. In return he was made a cabinet minister. In the next five years, Bhatt became so close to BJP that he contested the 2012 elections on the BJP symbol but lost. UKD leaders then became very angry with him. In 2017, Bhatt lost again as an independent candidate. He contested his last election in 2022 from Devprayag on UKD symbol but did not win.
Gradually his health started deteriorating. According to family sources, in his last days, Diwakar Bhatt was troubled due to neurological problems. He was treated in a private hospital in Dehradun but could not survive. Bhatt leaves behind his son and family. He was a leader of that era who did politics with struggles. He was also the Central President of UKD. Although UKD has now lagged behind as a mainstream political party in Uttarakhand, leaders like Diwakar Bhatt were keeping the identity of the party alive.
