Various opposition parties and movement groups in Uttarakhand have come forward and formed a coordination committee to speed up the mass movement in support of Gairsain town as the permanent capital of the state. Recently, the BJP-led state government was compelled to organise the budget session of the Assembly in Gairsain. The opposition Congress party members had also raised the issue in the House. The day-long Saturday meeting on the issue was organised here by the Gairsain Rajdhani Banao Sangharsh Samiti and attended by several political and social organisations. The meeting is seen as a big move in recent times in the state where so many parties and organisations came together to take the struggle for a permanent capital of state further. Dehradun remains the interim capital of the state that was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in November 2000. The leaders of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD), CPI-ML, Uttarakhand Parivartan Party (UKPP), Uttarakhand Mahila Manch, Swaraj Abhiyan and several other mass organisations also agreed to form a long-term strategy against the parties like Congress and BJP in the state. According to a source in the coordination committee, joint candidates would be fielded in the upcoming elections to the local bodies as well as in the parliamentary election expected next year. The issue of Pancheshwar Dam, migration from hills, sorry state of employment and critical healthcare were also discussed in the Saturday meeting. Former president of UKD, Pushpesh Tripathi, said town of Gairsain symbolised the spirit of hill state therefore the government must declare it as permanent capital of Uttarakhand. CPI-ML leader, Indresh Maikhuri, lambasted the Congress and the BJP for betraying the hill people, especially on the issue of permanent state capital in Gairsain. Uttarakhand Parivartan Party president, PC Tewari, also spoke against Pancheshwar Dam and crticised the liquor policy of the state. Uttarakhand Mahila Manch leader, Prof Uma Bhatt, asserted that the women were spine of the Gairsain Movement and her organisation would ensure maximum participation of women in the struggle. Charu Tewari, a journalist and convener of Gairsain Rajdhani Banao Sangharsh Samiti, told UNI that the state government should declare Gairsain as permanent capital as soon as possible in view of state-wise movement in support of Gairsain. Several well known activists, artists and intellectuals from all over the state were also present in the meeting. More than a hundred activists including Rajiv Lochan Sah, Purushottam Sharma, Kailash Pande, OP Pande, Jagmohan Rautela, Umesh Tewari Vishwas, Pradeep Sati, Bhupen Singh, Bhaskar Upreti, Rupesh Kumar Singh, Palash Vishawas and Chandrakala expressed their views on the occasion. According to the political observers here, this move of the opposition parties and activists may create fresh problems for the BJP Government. UNi BSB UNI 1400 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0442-1319878.Xml