Urmila Matondkar, Popular Actor Who Switched from Cong to Shiv Sena, ‘Walks for Unity’ with Rahul Gandhi

Last Update: January 24, 2023, 13:43 IST

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and KC Venugopal with Bollywood actor Urmila Matondkar during the party's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', in Jammu on Tuesday, Jan 24. (PTI)

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and KC Venugopal with Bollywood actor Urmila Matondkar during the party’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, in Jammu on Tuesday, Jan 24. (PTI)

Urmila Matondkar, a popular Bollywood star of the 1990s, joined Rahul Gandhi shortly after the march began near an army cantonment at around 8 a.m. amid tight security in Jammu.

Actor-turned-politician Urmila Matondkar joined Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, which resumed from the chilly town of Nagrota on Tuesday morning.

Matondkar, popular Bollywood The stars of the 1990s joined Gandhi soon after the march began near the army cantonment around 8 a.m. amid tight security, Congress workers and supporters lined the road along the route to welcome them Gave.

Matondkar (48) had resigned from the Congress in September 2019 after a short association of six months and joined the Shiv Sena in 2020.

Matondkar, dressed in a cream-coloured traditional Kashmir pheran (loose gown) and beanie cap, was chatting with Gandhi as they walked together.

Noted writer Perumal Murugan and J&K Pradesh Congress Committee president Vikar Rasool Wani, his predecessor GA Mir and former minister Tariq Hamid Karra also joined hundreds of others carrying the tricolor in their hands.

The yatra, which started from Kanyakumari on September 7, entered Jammu and Kashmir from Punjab on Thursday and reached Jammu city on Monday.

The march is scheduled to halt for two nights at Ramban and Banihal along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway before concluding with a grand rally at Sher-e-Kashmir in Srinagar. Cricket Stadium 30 January.

One of the delegation members said that a 65-member strong Ladakh delegation led by Ladakh Territorial Congress President Nawang Rigzin Jora joined Gandhi at the beginning of the visit and briefed him about the issues and concerns of his people.

A group of Kashmiri Pandit migrant women, dressed in their traditional attire and carrying flower petals, waited outside the famous Kol-Kandoli temple to welcome Gandhi.

“We have been wandering in Jammu for the last three decades after migrating from Kashmir. We have come here to welcome Gandhi as he could help in our rehabilitation in the valley as it was the Congress which had worked for the community in the past by giving employment packages to our youth.

He said that the biggest issue for him is the rehabilitation of the community and the BJP has miserably failed in this mission and neglected us.

After running for over one-and-a-half hours, the yatra will halt and resume near Army Gate Rehambal in Udhampur district at 2 pm.

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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)