Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra resumed from Jammu and Kashmir’s Hiranagar amid tight security as the shadow of the twin blasts hung in the air. The foot march began as per the schedule at around 7 am from Hiranagar near the international border on the Jammu-Pathankot highway.
Accompanied by JK Pradesh Congress chief Vikar Rasool Wani, working president Raman Bhalla and hundreds of tricolor-carrying volunteers, Gandhi entered Tapyal-Gagwal in Samba district after crossing the Londi post at around 8 a.m. and greeted enthusiastic workers and volunteers waiting on both sides. Supporters welcomed him. way.
After covering a distance of about 25 kms, the march will have a night halt at Chak Nanak before resuming on Samba from Vijaipur to Jammu, where it will reach on Monday. Adequate security arrangements have been made for Gandhi and police, CRPF and other security agencies are keeping a close watch to ensure a peaceful march, officials said.
Security has been beefed up across Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of twin bomb blasts in Narwal area on the outskirts of Jammu city on Saturday, in which nine people were injured. Police suspect that IEDs were used to carry out the twin blasts at an SUV parked at a repair shop and a vehicle at a nearby scrap yard in Transport Nagar area of Narwal.
The terror attack comes at a time when security agencies are on high alert in the area in view of the Congress visit and the upcoming Republic Day celebrations. The march started from Kanyakumari on September 7 and entered Jammu and Kashmir from Punjab on Thursday. The yatra is scheduled to end in Srinagar on January 30 with Gandhi unfurling the national flag at the Congress headquarters.
Earlier, as the Bharat Jodo Yatra continued in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday (January 30), Rahul Gandhi was seen wearing a black jacket for the first time after entering the North Indian winter. Usually, Gandhi wears a short-sleeved white T-shirt even when passing through places like Delhi, Punjab and Haryana in the bitter cold.
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