SRINAGAR: Three former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti and CPM leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami would be joining Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra that would reach J&K on January 22.
Congress leader K C Venugopal told the media in Srinagar that people of J&K are eagerly waiting for the march to reach the Union Territory. “They will receive the Yatra in J&K with their open hearts, like it happened in other states, Venugopal said. “The Congress has a separate affection for J&K. We know Kashmir’s legacy very well and Congress’s history is very much related to Kashmir’s history,” he added.
Asked whether J&K leaders would join the march, he said, “Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and Tarigami are ready to join. It is a happy moment for us. All leaders of J&K will be joining this yatra. Like-minded people who don’t believe in BJP’s divisive politics are joining us.”
Venugopal also said that they met J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday and he has offered all cooperation for the smooth conduct of the march. He slammed the Union government, saying it is creating a “drama” on the pretext of Covid-19 threat to stop the Yatra.
“All the flights are coming from China. There is no national-level protocol suggested by the WHO. Why is the health minister’s Covid protocol only for Rahul Gandhi and Bharat Jodo Yatra? All the government programmes are happening everywhere, the big mela is happening in Gujarat, where lakhs of people are participating. Besides, the Prime Minister is going here and there and attending public meetings,” Venugopal said.
“Whenever the government comes up with a guideline supported by experts and WHO, we are ready to accept it,” he said. Maintaining that the rally is a national padyatra, Venugopal said Rahul Gandhi has already made it clear that come what may, “we will go through the entire route of the country till Kashmir. We will hoist the national flag in Kashmir.”
He announced that the march is expected to enter J&K on January 22 and will remain there till January 30.
A few hours later, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti tweeted to confirm that she has been invited to join the Yatra.
Khurshid likens Rahul to Ram
Lucknow: Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid, who is coordinating the Yatra in UP, compared Rahul Gandhi with Lord Ram calling him a superhuman who was taking the Yatra as a ‘tapasya’ (penance). While interacting with media persons in Gajraula in Amroha, Khurshid said that where ever Rahul Gandhi was not able to walk, the party was visiting those places as his representative. “The Khadaun (sandles) of Lord Ram go places. Wherever Lord Ram fails to make it, Bharat visits those places with his Khadaun. We have also come to UP by taking Rahul Gandhi’s Khadaun, now he will also come,” said Khurshid.