congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Friday that he had to cancel the Bharat Jodo Yatra for the day in Jammu and Kashmir as the police system had unfortunately “completely cracked down”.
“It is the responsibility of the Jammu and Kashmir administration to provide security,” he told reporters in Khanabal. We are recommending,” he said. I hope that now security will be ensured for the remaining days of the yatra.”
Party sources said the party’s ambitious Bharat Jodo Yatra resumed from Jammu and Kashmir’s Banihal in the early hours of Friday but was soon disrupted due to alleged security lapses. Congress in-charge of Jammu and Kashmir Rajni Patil took to Twitter to blame the UT administration for failing to provide proper security during the yatra.
Government sources, however, denied the allegations of lapse in security and said cnn-news18 It’s all a “trick to gain sympathy”. Sources said the Congress was not keen on taking the yatra to Srinagar and wanted to drop it midway.
Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and Vice President of National Conference Omar Abdullah also joined Rahul Gandhi in Banihal. Gandhi said that the two could only walk 4 km, when they were expected to walk 16 km.
Wearing a Gandhi-like white T-shirt, Abdullah started walking with the Congress leader as well as hundreds of Congress supporters. “The aim of the Bharat Jodo Yatra is not to improve the image of Rahul Gandhi, but to improve the condition of the country,” the National Conference leader said on reaching Banihal, 120 km from Srinagar.
He also said that the outer cordon of the cordon, which was supposed to be maintained by the J&K Police, “disappeared within minutes of Rahul Gandhi walking in.” 11km walk but unfortunately had to be cancelled.”
Gandhi, after reaching Qazigund, started walking towards Vesu in south Kashmir as planned, but Congress workers suddenly found that the outer cordon, which was supposed to be managed by the J&K Police, had disappeared, alleged Congress leaders. . He said Gandhi had to stop the padyatra after barely walking 500 metres.
AICC general secretary KC Venugopal tweeted, “The authorities responsible must answer for this lapse and take appropriate steps to prevent such incidents in future.”
Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary said a similar situation happened when Rahul Gandhi was walking in Delhi and alleged that the police there had staged a “pre-planned stampede”. He said that Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha should be held accountable in the matter of Jammu and Kashmir.
“When Rahul Gandhi was roaming around in Delhi, I was with him. It happened here too. Delhi Police had pre-planned the stampede. We have repeatedly urged him to increase the security of Rahul Gandhi.
He said: “In Delhi, security is provided by the Delhi LG and in J&K, by its J&K LG. You can understand to whom both the LGs obey. Manoj Sinha is in Srinagar, he will have to answer.”
Government sources also said that the Jammu and Kashmir administration is providing full security to the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi. He said that the administration is ready to increase the number of police personnel if the Congress wants.
“Jammu and Kashmir government has been providing foolproof security arrangements for the yatra since day one and any such allegation is completely baseless and far from reality,” official sources said.
The Kashmir Zone Police responded to the allegations, claiming that the organizers and managers of the yatra did not inform them about the involvement of a large gathering from Banihal. He said that all the security arrangements have been made, but the Jammu and Kashmir Police was not consulted about the closure of the yatra after walking only 1 km.
Only authorized persons identified by the organizers and the frisking crowd were allowed inside towards the route of the yatra. The organizers and managers of BJY were not informed about the large crowd of people joining the yatra from Banihal, which had gathered near the starting point. (1/3)— Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) January 27, 2023
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said Gandhi’s security team is in discussion with the Jammu and Kashmir administration to ensure that everything runs smoothly for the next few days.
On 25 January, the yatra had to be halted at Ramban and its second leg was canceled due to a landslide on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. From Banihal, the yatra was set to enter the Kashmir Valley via Qazigund and reach Khanbal area of Anantnag district.
The yatra started from Kanyakumari on 7 September and entered Jammu and Kashmir via Punjab.
read all latest politics news Here