CHANDIGARH: The Bharat Jodo Yatra has been suspended for twenty-four hours due to the demise of 76-year-old Santokh Singh Chaudhary Congress Member of Parliament from Jalandhar today morning as he died of a heart attack during the Yatra of Rahul Gandhi in Phillaur.
Sources said that as the yatra reached Phillur the two-time Member of Parliament came out with Rahul Gandhi from Kusht Ashram and then began walking with him. After a few minutes, he collapsed during the yatra and was rushed to Virk hospital in Phagwara in an ambulance where he was declared dead.
The yatra was halted following Chaudhary’s death leading Rahul Gandhi to rush to the hospital. Later, when the body of the deceased MP was brought to his house in Jalandhar, Rahul visited and paid his condolences.
The last rites of Chaudhary will be performed at his village tomorrow.
A prominent Dalit leader Chaudhary had won the Lok Sabha seat from Jalandhar twice in 2014 and 2019 and earlier he remained state cabinet minister in the Capt Amarinder Singh Government. While his son Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary is presently MLA from the Phillaur assembly constituency.
Earlier in the morning, the yatra resumed from Ladhowal in Ludhiana as part of its Punjab leg.
Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjjnder Singh Randhwa announced that the Yatra has been suspended for twenty-four hours in honour of Chaudhary. "The yatra will again start from Khalsa College in Jalandhar tomorrow afternoon after the cremation of Chaudhary and Rahul will attend the cremation tomorrow morning and today also go to the house of the deceased MP to pay his condolences," they said.
Ramesh said that they got this tragic news at around 9 am when they were walking and the yatra was immediately suspended.
Randhawa said that it is a big loss to Congress as Chaudhary belonged to a family who has dedicated their entire life to the grand old party. "This is so sad that it happened just a few minutes after he was walking hail and hearty."
"The yatra has nothing to do with elections as this march is of a political party and not a yatra to win the elections as it is being taken out against economic disparities, social polarization and political dictatorship," said Ramesh.
He said that the congress will start a 'Hath-Se-Hath Jodo' campaign from January 26 to March 26 with the ensuing assembly elections in a few states this year and Lok Sabha elections of 2024 and it will cover 2.50 lakh panchayats in six lakh villages to take forward the message of this yatra and will give the 'charge-sheet' of this government to the public which we have prepared as this government failed to fulfil the promises it made.
"This Hath-Se-Hath Jodo campaign which is directly linked to the elections will take the Bharat Jodo Yatra further but the Yatra is not directly linked to the polls but to an ideology," said Ramesh and added that this campaign will be at three levels (block, district and state). Besides 'Mahila Yatras' within states will also be organized.
When he was asked about the invitations sent for the January 30 program in Srinagar the day yatra ends, Ramesh said that to date the Congress president has sent invitations to 23 parties to join the Congress during the last leg of the yatra on January 30 which is the martyrdom day of Mahatma Gandhi. Attacking a few political parties he said that the B, C and D teams of BJP have not been invited.
"The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), ADMK, and BJD have not been invited. Only those parties which believe in Bharat Jodo Yatra have been invited for this meeting. As former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Ministers Farook Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufi have been invited and there is no need to invite former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi as the leaders who have gone with him have already returned to congress fold," he said.
Meanwhile expressing his condolences, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann tweeted, "I am deeply saddened by the untimely death of Congress Member of Parliament from Jalandhar, Santokh Singh Chowdhury... May God rest his soul in peace."
Former Chief Minister and Ex-Congress leader Amarinder Singh also expressed his condolences, he tweeted, "Extremely saddened to hear about the sudden demise of MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary ji due to a heart attack today. My heartfelt condolences are with his entire family in their time of grief. May Waheguru Ji grant eternal peace to the departed soul."
Punjab Governor and Chandigarh Administrator Banwarilal Purohit has expressed his grief over Chaudhary's death. "I am shocked at the sudden, untimely demise of Chaudhary ji. He was a dedicated and hardworking leader. May his soul rest in peace," he said.