PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti joins Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at the party's Bharat Jodo Yatra, at Chursu, Awantipora in Pulwama district, Saturday (Express/Shuaib Masoodi)
Bharat Jodo Yatra Highlights, January 28: Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra has entered its last lap, with the Yatra all set to culminate tomorrow, when Gandhi will hoist the tricolour at the Congress party’s headquarters in Srinagar.
On Saturday, Gandhi was joined by his sister Priyanaka Gandhi Vadra and People Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti, who termed the initiative “a breath of fresh air”. “Rahul Gandhi’s yatra comes like a breath of fresh air in Kashmir. It is the first time since 2019 that Kashmiris have come out of their homes in such massive numbers. It was a great experience to walk with him,” the PDP leader tweeted. Gandhi also paid floral tributes to the 40 CRPF personnel killed in a car bomb blast in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district in 2019. He laid a flower bouquet at the spot where the CRPF bus was blown up by a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway four years ago.
Meanwhile, security measures for the Yatra in Kashmir on Saturday were stricter than a day before when Rahul Gandhi had to cancel his foot march, informed Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh. The Yatra was suspended for the afternoon session on Friday following a “security lapse”, with the Congress alleging that the Jammu and Kashmir Police had withdrawn security around its leader Rahul Gandhi in the wake of surging crowds during the foot march in Qazigund.
A large number of people turned up in Banihal despite the chilly, wet weather. (Express Photo by Shuaib Masoodi)
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with others during Congress' Bharat Jodo Yatra, in Qazigund, January 27, 2023. (PTI)
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti. (Express Photo/Shuaib Masoodi); Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with J&K National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah and others during Congress' Bharat Jodo Yatra, in Qazigund. (PTI)
The Congress' rally in Kashmir on January 30 after the Bharat Jodo Yatra ends is "not a coalition building exercise" or to build a platform for the 2024 general elections, party general secretary Jairam Ramesh said. To a question at a press conference on whether some opposition leaders such as that of the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, and Trinamool Congress not attending the event would be a setback, he said "No, absolutely not." "I believe somebody from the BSP is coming. I am not entirely sure. But, I do not see the absence of anybody who has been invited as a setback. They may have other preoccupations," Ramesh claimed.
"The JD(U) president is in Nagaland on an election campaign. (JD(S) president) H D Deve Gowda has written to Rahul Gandhi, expressing full support and appreciation for the Yatra, but expressed his inability to come personally. So, I do not see this as a setback," he said. Ramesh said as a courtesy an invite was extended to the parties to take part in the event. (PTI)
The Congress on Saturday said the "restoration" of democratic process in Jammu and Kashmir is of utmost priority and assembly elections should be held at the earliest, followed by the reinstatement of full statehood. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh stated this at a presser on the sidelines of the Bharat Jodo Yatra at JKPCC headquarters here.
Ramesh had on Friday said the Yatra will not discuss political issues of Jammu and Kashmir such as the abrogation of Article 370 and the Gupkar Alliance as there will be other opportunities to raise those. On Saturday, he said there are many political issues in J-K of day-to-day concern and also of larger concern. (PTI)
Security measures for the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Kashmir on Saturday were stricter than a day before when Rahul Gandhi had to cancel his foot march, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said here. “After yesterday's incident, the administration made strict arrangements. But, despite that, thousands of people - men, women, children, elderly, every section of the society - stood on the roads and welcomed the Yatra and Gandhi heartily,” Ramesh told reporters at a presser here.
The yatra resumed from Awantipora in Pulwama district in south Kashmir this morning. The Congress had on Friday alleged that police arrangements by the Jammu and Kashmir administration had "completely collapsed" following which Gandhi had to suspend his walk. “There were strict arrangements. All roads had been closed, traffic was suspended, and people faced difficulties. We received many phone calls that people were not allowed to move. But, despite that, many people came out of their houses to support the yatra,” Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) Vikar Rasool said. (PTI)
Days after controversial remarks by Congress leader and fellow yatri Digvijaya Singh raising questions about the Pulwama terror attack, which left 40 CRPF personnel dead, Rahul Gandhi Saturday paid homage to the killed troops at the site of the incident.
Resuming his Bharat Jodo Yatra, which he had abandoned on Friday after an alleged security breach, Rahul made a brief halt at Lethpora to pay tributes to the men who were killed on February 14, 2019, in a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy. Basharaat Masood writes
People Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday joined Congress’ Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra. Rahul resumed his march from Awantipora in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday. (Express/Shuaib Masoodi)
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah Saturday said that the Bharat Jodo Yatra received a good response in Jammu and Kashmir and that men, women from across age groups have been lining up and are "marching for unity".
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday joined her brother Rahul Gandhi at the Bharat Jodo Yatra at Lethpora in Jammu and Kashmir as the party's foot march entered its penultimate day. Priyanka Gandhi walked alongside the former Congress president amidst tight security arrangements before the yatra stopped for a break at Lethpora.
The yatra resumed from Awantipora where PDP president Mehbooba Mufti and her daughter Iltija Mufti joined Gandhi, the Lok Sabha member from Wayanad in Kerala, for the march. Gandhi also paid homage to the 40 CRPF personnel who were killed in a suicide car bomb attack at Lethpora by laying a bouquet at the spot where the security force's bus was blown up in February 2019. (PTI)
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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday paid floral tributes to the 40 CRPF personnel killed in a car bomb blast in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district in 2019.
Gandhi, who is in the last leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, laid a flower bouquet at the spot where the CRPF bus was blown up by a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway four years ago.
The Yatra, which is heading towards Srinagar, stopped briefly to pay homage to the slain CRPF personnel. The Gandhi-led foot march started from Kanyakumari on September 7 and it will conclude in Srinagar on January 30. (PTI)
People Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday joined the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi led Bharat Jodo Yatra that resumed from the Chersoo village in Awantipora after being cancelled on Friday.
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Congress leader, Ghulam Ahmad Mir brushed off the rumours of people joining the yatra from the other side of the tunnel.
While talking to ANI, he said, "Yesterday, thousands of people wanted to join the yatra and somehow there was mismanagement. It was also said that people from another side of the tunnel came. It's baseless, the tunnel is 9 km long." "With the VVIP speed with which Rahul Gandhi came to this side, nobody could have followed him that quickly. They were locals from South Kashmir, from the Dooru constituency and were there out of love," he added. The Congress leader further informed about the large support the yatra enjoyed throughout the country. (ANI)
A day after the party leadership suspended the Bharat Jodo Yatra due to the alleged security breach, the Congress party resumed its Rahul Gandhi-led march from Awantipora in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday. The Yatra will halt near Birla Open Minds International School, Pampore, before proceeding towards Pantha Chowk in Srinagar.
Taking note of the alleged 'serious' security breach in Kashmir during the last leg of Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Friday accused the Jammu and Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha saying that he is responsible behind the security lapse.
While speaking to ANI, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that the securities provided there in Delhi or Jammu and Kashmir are the sole responsibility of the respective LGs. "Manoj Sinha, sitting in Srinagar, will have to answer who was responsible for Rahul's march," he said.
Congress Bharat Jodo Yatra on Friday, on the day of entering Kashmir, was 'called off' for the day in view of a security lapse, which triggered heavy criticism by party leaders against the centre and Jammu and Kashmir administration for failing to manage the crowd. (ANI)
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has written to Home Minister Amit Shah seeking his intervention in ensuring adequate security to the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir.
His letter to Shah comes after the Bharat Jodo Yatra was suspended for the afternoon session on Friday following a "security lapse", with the Congress alleging that the J and K Police had withdrawn security around its leader Rahul Gandhi in the wake of surging crowds during the foot march in Qazigund.
"We are expecting a huge gathering to join the yatra over the next two days and also the function that will be held on 30th January at Srinagar. Many senior Congress leaders and leaders of other important political parties are attending the culmination function to be held on the 30th of January.
"I shall be grateful if you could personally intervene in this matter and advise the concerned officials to provide adequate security till the culmination of the yatra and the function on the 30th January at Srinagar," the Congress president said in his letter to the home minister. (PTI)