4 min readNew DelhiAug 25, 2023 01:36 PM IST
First published on: Aug 25, 2023 at 01:36 PM IST
Addressing a public rally in Ladakh’s Kargil on the last day of his extended visit to the Union Territory, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said it is sad that even though China has clearly stolen India’s land, Prime Minister Narendra Modi denied it in the Opposition meeting.
Earlier on Sunday, Rahul Gandhi took a dig at PM Modi and said the PM’s claim that not an inch of land has been lost in the Union Territory “is not true”. He said the local people have confirmed that the “Chinese army entered our land”.
Reiterating it at the public rally in Beamathang, he said, “It is very clear that China has taken away hundreds of kilometres of land from India. India’s prime minister said that not even an inch of the country’s land has been taken. This is a blatant lie.”
Calling Ladakh a “strategic location”, the Congress leader said it became clear to him that Ladakh’s land has been stolen by the neighbouring country when he visited Pangong Lake on the eve of father and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s birth anniversary. Every person in Ladakh knows there is no truth to what the prime minister said, he added.
During his address, he also mentioned the Congress party’s electoral victory in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh and said that he was confident that they would win the upcoming polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh and Telangana.
About his visit to “every corner” of Ladakh during his tour, Rahul Gandhi said he spoke to the poor people and the “mothers and sisters” to understand “what is in their hearts”. “Other ministers talk about their mann ki baat, I thought let me hear your mann ki baat,” he said taking another dig at PM Modi and his monthly radio program ‘Mann ki Baat’.
Talking about being unable to visit Ladakh as part of his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, Rahul Gandhi said: “The Yatra was not supposed to stop at Srinagar but come to Ladakh due to snow in winter. It was in my heart to conduct the yatra in Ladakh and I took it forward on a motorbike (to Pangong Lake) if not by walk.”
“The aim (of the Yatra) was to stand against hatred and violence spread by BJP and RSS in the country…The message that came out of the Yatra was-‘nafrat ke bazaar mein hum mohabbat ki dukaan kholne nikle hain‘ (In the market of hatred, we shall open a shop of love). In the last few days, I got to see this myself,” he said addressing the gathering at the public rally.
“You all live together with respect and without any hatred through difficult times. The ideology of the Congress party is in your hearts,” he said.
Appreciating the abundance of natural resources in Ladakh, Gandhi said the issue is about the land. “The BJP wants to steal your land from you. They want to allow Adani’s big projects to be set up here and do not want you to benefit from them either. We will not let this happen. We support the demands of the Leh’s apex body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance,” he added.
The Congress leader wraps up his Ladakh tour on Friday and is expected to return to the national capital.
Kargil: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addresses a public meeting, in Kargil district, Ladakh, Friday. (PTI Photo) 
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