Jammu, Jan 20: The Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi that entered Jammu and Kashmir in its last leg, resumed on Friday from Hatli Morh in Kathua district.
Amidst chill and inclement weather conditions, Bharat Jodo Yatra resumed after a delay of more than one hour in this border district of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Yatra was scheduled to start at 7.00 am but was delayed by an hour and fifteen minutes apparently due to the winter rains.
Donning a jacket over his famous White T-Shirt due to chilled waves in the morning, Rahul started the yatra flanked by Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut.
Rahul removed the jacket with some improvement in the weather after walking for over the first two hours from Hatli Morh towards Chadwal, a 21-km stretch along the Jammu-Pathankot highway which was virtually sealed as part of the stringent security arrangements.
Speaking to reporters, Raut said “I had come all the way to join yatra because Rahul Gandhi is a leader of masses and he is on the right path to raise voice against unemployment, inflation and other issues bothering people in the country.”
“Only Rahul Gandhi could challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2024 and end the BJP’s “dictatorial regime”, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut who joined the last leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Jammu told reporters.
He added that an Opposition front without the Congress would be meaningless.
Several gallantry award winners, including Param Vir Chakra recipient Captain Bana Singh, too joined the Yatra and walked with Gandhi for more than 40 minutes.
“Whenever there is talk of protecting India and its ideals, the names of brave sons of the country like Bana Singh are taken. Captain Bana Singh, a Paramveer Chakra winner who hoisted the tricolor on the icy heights of Siachen, is an inspiration to me and every patriot,’ senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted.
Several Congress leaders, including the party’s Jammu and Kashmir unit president Vikar Rasool Wani and his predecessor G A Mir, former MP Chief Minister Divijay Singh, Congress spokesperson Jai Ram Ramesh, firebrand student leader Kanhaiya Kumar accompanied Gandhi during the final leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. The yatra covered 25 km and halted at Chadwal in the Kathua district for the night. There will be no march on Saturday.
The yatra will resume on Sunday from Hiranagar in Kathua and will reach Jammu on January 23. It will have another break on January 26 (Republic Day) before commencing in Kashmir valley.
The march, which started from Kanyakumari on September 7, entered Jammu and Kashmir from Punjab on Thursday evening and is scheduled to end in Srinagar on January 30. A tight security ring, composed of police and CRPF personnel, was thrown around Gandhi.
Entering Jammu and Kashmir in the last leg of his Bharat Jodo Yatra, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday invoked his connection with the land, saying his ancestors had moved from Kashmir to Uttar Pradesh and he felt he was “returning home”.
He said he had come here to share the pain and agony of the people of J&K. “I know how much pain the people of Jammu and Kashmir have faced. I understand it… Everybody has got hurt, everybody has suffered,” he said while addressing a crowd that had gathered in huge numbers at the entry point to J&K from Pathankot-Punjab to receive him.
The march entered Kashmir on Thursday and will culminate with a rally in Srinagar on January 30. (KNO)
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