Indramani Badoni

Indramani Badoni (December 24, 1925 –August 18, 1999) also known as the "Gandhi of Uttarakhand," was an Indian educator, politician, environmentalist, folk artist and statehood activist from the present day Indian state of Uttarakhand.

Early life and education
Indramani Badoni was born on December 24, 1925 in a small farming hamlet Akhodi, in the subsidary princely state of Tehri Garhwal. Badoni was born to Kaldi Devi and Sureshanand, he spent his early life in poverty.

Badoni received his primary education in the village Akhodi and completed his education in Nainital and Dehradun. Badoni completed his graduate degree from DAV PG College, Dehradun in 1949. He married Surji Devi when he was only 19 and went to Bombay in search of livelihood. However, he soon returned for health reasons.

Badoni was also a theatre-artist and is said to have been adept at playing folk instruments. As evidenced in 1956, when on the occasion of Republic Day Parade at Rajpath, Indramani Badoni organized a kedar dance under the leadership of Hindao's folk artists Shivjani Dhung and Giraj Dhung.

Political career
in 1953, Gandhi's disciple Meera Ben went to visit Tehri on a humanitarian and educational visit. When Meera reached Akhodi, she asked for an educated and sensible local of the village with whom to discuss plans that would be of benefit to the development of the village. Badoni rose to the occasion and with the inspiration of Meera Ben got involved in social work.

In 1961, Indramani Badoni became a village head and afterwards the head of the development block, Jakholi. He was elected as an independent candidate to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly for the first time from Devprayag in 1967.

In 1969, he was elected as an All India Congress candidate, and in 1977, he was elected as an independent candidate to the Lucknow Legislative Assembly. Even during the Janata Party wave of 1977, he won with such a landslide that both Congress and Janata candidates lost deposit.

However, Badoni also faced setbacks in his political career. He lost the election to Govind Prasad Gairola in 1974, and in 1989, he lost the parliamentary election to Brahm Dutt. Despite these setbacks, Badoni was deeply committed to the cause of a separate Uttarakhand state. He was active in the movement for a separate state since 1979 and served as the Vice President of the Parvateey Vikas Parishad.

In 1980, Badoni joined the hands with the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, a newly established regional political party aimed at creating a separate hill state from Uttar Pradesh, and remained its active member throughout his life. During the Chief Ministership of Banarasi Das Gupta in Uttar Pradesh, he was the Vice Chairman of the Hill Development Council. Badoni also contested the 1989 Lok Sabha elections. Badoni lost this election by ten thousand votes. It is said that at the time of filing the nomination, Badoni had only one rupee in his pocket while his rival Brahmadutt spent lakhs of rupees on his campaign.

While working in the education sector, Badoni opened many schools in Garhwal, prominent among which are the Intermediate College Kathud, Magadhar, Dhutu and Higher Secondary School Bugalidhar.

Role in the Uttarakhand Statehood Movement
In 1988, Badoni did a 105-day foot march under the banner of Uttarakhand Kranti Dal. This procession ran from Tawaghat in Pithoragarh to Dehradun. He went from door to door in the village and told the people the benefits of a separate state. In 1992, he declared Gairsain the capital of Uttarakhand on the day of Makar Sankranti in Bageshwar.

In 1994, Badoni began a fast unto death in Pauri to demand a separate Uttarakhand state. On 7th August, he was forcibly taken and admitted to a hospital in Meerut and from there he was shifted to AIIMS, Delhi in an attempt to withdraw him from public view. His arrest enraged his followers and the movement gained further momentum resulting in the creation of Uttarakhand on November 9, 2000, a year after his demise.

Due to his unwavering faith in the non-violent movement and his charismatic but easy-going personality, The Washington Post referred to Badoni as the "Mountain Gandhi." He died on August 18, 1999, at the Vithal Ashram in Rishikesh. Despite the challenges he faced throughout his life, Badoni remains a respected and influential figure in the history of Uttarakhand.

Legacy
In state and national media Badoni is largely referred to as the "unsung hero" of the Uttarakhand Statehood Movement.