Farooq, Omar, Mehbooba Likely to Participate in Bharat Jodo Yatra in J&K

Srinagar: Three former chief ministers of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, Dr Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, are likely to participate in the Congress party’s flagship Bharat Jodo Yatra next month in the union territory, party secretary general K C Venugopal said on Tuesday.

Venugopal, a Member of Parliament, said that many leaders, including Dr Farooq, Omar and Mehbooba and others, like Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader M Y Tarigami, have expressed their will to participate in the Yatra. The Congress’ Yatra is against what Venugopal referred to as the Bharatiya Janata Party and Sangh Parivar’s “divisive politics”.

Speaking at a presser in Srinagar on Tuesday, the Congress leader said that he met with Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday along with AICC in-charge for Jammu and Kashmir, Rajani Patil, and party leaders Vikar Rasool Wani and Ghulam Ahmad Mir. They interacted with the administration to seek their cooperation.

Venugopal and Patil are visiting the region to review the preparations for the Yatra. “Yesterday, we had an interaction with people in Jammu, and today, we had an interaction with Kashmiri people also. We are very happy with the preparations. It is wonderful,” he told reporters.

The Congress general secretary said that he found that the people of Jammu and Kashmir are eagerly waiting for the Yatra.

The Yatra is being led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. It began on September 7 from Kanya Kumari and will culminate in Srinagar around the last week of January, 2023. Gandhi said he will hoist the national flag at the final destination. The march will go through Uttar Pradesh and Haryana before the 52-year-old leader moves towards the union territory. This will be his second visit to the region after the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A in August 2019. Gandhi’s visit to the region in August 2019 was, however, thwarted by the J&K admin, and he was sent back.

Venugopal added that the Indian National Congress has a separate affection towards Jammu and Kashmir and shares a legacy with the erstwhile state. “Congress’ history is very much related to the history of J&K. The entire country is looking forward to the Yatra here,” he added.

The Rajya Sabha MP also said that the yatra is aimed to send a “clear and loud” message to divisive forces like the BJP and Sangh Parivar, who caused massive damage to the country and the Constitution.

On being asked about the revived fears around Covid-19, the senior leader accused the BJP-led Union government of trying to instil fear in people about a new variant of the coronavirus. “It seems like a drama to stop Rahul Gandhi from continuing his Yatra when flights are coming from China uninterruptedly. When there is no protocol set for arriving passengers, why is the government creating drama in the name of Covid-19? It seems the government is trying to stop our yatra,” he said.

He, however, added that if the government is going to frame SOPs in general to avoid any untoward situation, the party will have no hesitation to abide by the set directions.