SRINAGAR: Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra (BJY) would enter Jammu and Kashmir on January 19 and tight security measures would be put in place in the Union Territory for the yatra.
AICC J&K In-charge Rajni Patil told reporters in Jammu that the BJY would enter Lakhanpur’s Kathua district of J&K from Punjab on January 19 at 4 pm.
"After the night halt, Rahul will lead the yatra from Hatli Morh in Kathua from January 20 morning and take a night halt at Chadwal. January 21 will be the break day,” she said.
The rally will reach Jammu on January 23 and the party is planning a rally in the city. The yatra would remain in Jammu region for over a week.
Former J&K Congress chief Ghulam Ahmed Mir said the yatra would enter Kashmir from Jawahar Tunnel on Srinagar-Jammu national highway on January 27.
The closing of the yatra, which started from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7, would take place in Srinagar on January 30.
“From January 27, the yatra will travel to different parts enroute to Srinagar. A mega rally will be held at Sheri Kashmir cricket stadium in Srinagar on January 30,” Mir said.
Asked whether Rahul Gandhi would hoist the national tricolour, which he is carrying from Kanyakumari, at Sheri Kashmir cricket stadium in Srinagar, he said that he is searching for a place to hoist the flag.
“The flag will be placed permanently at the place,” Mir said.
Director General of J&K Police Dilbagh Singh said all security needs of the yatra will be taken care of and security will be ensured in every district.
“Whatever security measures are needed will be put in place for the yatra,” he said adding, “Yatra will be regulated to ensure that people don’t face inconveniences."
Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Advocate Deepika Rajawat, who led the legal fight for justice for an eight-year-old girl who was brutally raped and murdered in J&K's Kathua in January 2018 resigned from the party over allowing former BJP minister and ex-Congress MP Lal Singh to participate in the yatra.
In a series of tweets, Deepika alleged that Lal Singh defended the rapists of the girl and divided the entire J&K to protect the rapists.
“In view of Ch. Lal Singh's proposal of joining @bharatjodo & @INCJammuKashmir allowing the same, I am left with no other option but to resign from @INCIndia .Lal Singh was responsible for sabotaging the Kathua rape case in 2018 by brazenly defending rapists,” she tweeted.
Lal Singh, who now heads a Jammu-based party, and other politicians from J&K including Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, Omar Abdullah, Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami and Muzaffar Shah would be attending the yatra. Shiv Sena leader and MP Sanjay Raut would also join the yatra when it enters J&K tomorrow.
However, former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who has floated his own party DAP, would not be attending the yatra. Neither did Congress invite him to the yatra nor did Azad show any inclination to attend the yatra.