CPI-ML’S RAJA BAHUGUNA PASSED AWAY

CPI-ML’S RAJA BAHUGUNA PASSED AWAY

29-NOV-ENG 21

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

ARA-------------------------Raja Bahuguna, Chairman of the CPI-ML Central Control Commission and one of the founding leaders of the party in Uttarakhand, passed away on November 28, 2025, in a Delhi hospital. He had been battling liver cancer since 2023. A condolence meeting was held at the CPI-ML District Office, Sritola, Ara, on his demise. During this, tributes were paid by garlanding his portrait and observing a two-minute silence. The condolence meeting was conducted by CPI-ML District Office Secretary, Dilraj Pritam. Among those who paid tribute were CPI-ML City Secretary, Sudhir Kumar Singh, State Committee Member, Qayamuddin Ansari, AISA State Secretary, Shabbir Kumar, District Standing Committee Member, Jitendra Kumar Singh, Barhara Block Secretary, Nandji Ram, Koilwar Block Secretary, Vishnu Thakur, Innaus District Secretary, Niranjan Kesari, AISA District Secretary, Vikas Kumar, District President, Sushil Yadav, Dinanath Singh, Sushil Pal, City Committee Member, Rajendra Yadav, AISA District Co-Secretary, Roshan. Kushwaha, Randhir Kumar Rana, Bablu Gupta, Sahara Payment Struggle Committee Secretary Raju Prasad, Jaishankar Prasad, INAUS leader Akhilesh Gupta, Amit Yadav, Rajesh Kumar, Santosh Kumar Ram, Anup Kumar, Pankaj Kushwaha, Vivek Kumar, and many others were present.

The party lowers its red flag in honor of its beloved comrade, whose entire life was dedicated to the struggles of the working people.

Raja Bahuguna, who dedicated his life to people's rights and a socialist society, began his political career in Nainital during his early college days, with his initial association with the Youth Congress. However, his disillusionment with ruling class politics soon became evident in the turbulent years of the seventies, and he associated himself with the anti-Emergency movement and the forest movement (Chipko movement). In the late 1970s, he joined the Uttarakhand Sangharsh Vahini and led numerous movements against environmental attacks, for the rights and employment of farmers and laborers. He led the "Nasha Nahi Rojgar Do" movement in various parts of Uttarakhand, including Nainital and Almora districts. His fervent desire for political resistance brought him into contact with the CPI-ML in the early 1980s. He, along with several other comrades, formed the CPI-ML in Uttarakhand, which was then part of undivided Uttar Pradesh.

Ka. Raja Bahuguna played a crucial role in the movement for the creation of the Uttarakhand state. In the 1980s, when the movement was at a standstill, he organized a massive rally in Nainital for the state. Later, he wrote a booklet on the future direction of a separate Uttarakhand state. He also formed the Uttarakhand People's Front to give voice to the democratic sentiments for a separate state.

Raja Bahuguna was the National Vice President of the Indian People's Front and its President in Uttar Pradesh. Among many other struggles, he led the historic movement for land distribution to the landless in Bindukhatta and the Mahatosh Morh movement against violence and oppression of women in the Terai region. In leading public movements, he bravely faced police repression, lathicharge, and imprisonment.

In 1989, he contested the Nainital Lok Sabha seat for the first time and secured a significant vote share. By the 1990s, under his leadership, the party had expanded to almost every district. He served as the party's Uttarakhand State Secretary, a Central Committee member, the National Vice President of the trade union AITU, and a member of the Central Executive of the AIPF. At the 11th Party Congress held in Patna in 2023, he was elected Chairman of the Central Control Commission.

His passing is a profound blow to the CPI-ML, but the example he set through his humility, ideological commitment, and unwavering dedication to people's movements will always be a source of inspiration for us! Every struggle for dignity and every step taken towards a just society will bear the imprint of his life and work.