Priyanka and Mehbooba join the March, Bharat Jodo Yatra Enters its final lap
SRINAGAR, Jan 28: The Bharat Jodo Yatra organised by the Congress reached its final lap on Saturday when Mehbooba Mufti, the leader of the PDP, and Priyanaka Gandhi Vadra joined Rahul Gandhi in leading the march. A day after postponing the march in Anantnag amid claims that the JK administration’s police arrangements “totally collapsed” during the yatra, Rahul Gandhi resumed his yatra from Chursoo in south Kashmir’s Awantipora at 9.20 am.
Reacting to the allegation, the Jammu and Kashmir administration had said pressure on security resources due to the size of the crowd, larger than planned, may have created an impression of a lack of security arrangements during the march. On Saturday, however, the party claimed that security measures were tighter as a result of security personnel closing all roads leading to the yatra’s starting point and permitting only authorised vehicles to arrive at the location.
As part of the tightened security measures, Gandhi was also encircled by a three-layered security ring. The PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti, her daughter Iltija Mufti, and her mother Gulshan Nazir joined Gandhi in walking as the march passed through Awantipora, along with a sizable contingent of Congress and PDP workers.
On Saturday, a sizable number of female supporters joined the yatra. Nazir walked for a few minutes, but Mehbooba and her daughter continued walking with the Gandhi family scion until they reached Lethpora, where the yatra stopped for refreshments. The PDP president said the yatra was like a breath of fresh air in Kashmir as it allowed people to come out of their homes in numbers for the first time since 2019.
The Centre, on August 5, 2019, revoked Article 370 which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. A civil society contingent led by Yogendra Yadav also joined the yatra in the morning.
Gandhi was later joined by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who accompanied him on his yatra till they reached Pampore’s Galandar neighbourhood. From there, they both travelled to their overnight stop location at Pantha Chowk on the outskirts of Srinagar. Hundreds of eager residents lined up along the Srinagar-Jammu national route from Awantipora to Pampore to see the former Congress president despite strict security arrangements.
Gandhi put a sleeveless jacket over his now-iconic white T-shirt for a while before taking it off once more. The temperature was roughly four degrees, but he was wearing warm headgear. Gandhi waved at the throng as he travelled, shook hands with numerous people, and hugged some children when they were being showered with candy in one location.
On Saturday, Gandhi also stopped the yatra for a few minutes to pay floral tributes to the 40 CRPF personnel killed in a car bomb blast in Lethpora area of Pulwama district in 2019.
Gandhi 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. “Today, paid my humble tributes to the 40 brave martyrs of Pulwama at their martyrdom site. The life of every soldier of the country is priceless. India will never forget their sacrifice,” he said in a tweet in Hindi later. On Saturday, the yatra, which had left Kanyakumari on September 7th, arrived in Pantha Chowk on the outskirts of Srinagar.
The yatra would stop there for the night before continuing on Sunday morning from Pantha Chowk to its conclusion close to Nehru Park on Boulevard Road in the city. The yatra’s final day of walking will be on Sunday. Gandhi will raise the tricolour on Monday at the party headquarters in this city’s M A Road. There will thereafter be a public gathering at this city’s SK Stadium, to which 23 opposition political parties have been invited.
