Rahul Gandhi gains J&K ‘ally’ who said 2024 is shut case
By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, January 27: Before cancelling day’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi made a loud statement that he had brought his party back in the contention in Jammu and Kashmir. Rahul Gandhi walked with former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who long ago had said that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was a shut case in favour of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Rahul Gandhi had to cancel the day’s Yatra following an alleged compromise of his security. But by that time he had sent out a message that Congress is back in the contention in the Union Territory, which is awaiting an Assembly election. While National Conference patriarch Farooq Abdullah had joined the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ in Uttar Pradesh, his son walked with Rahul Gandhi into the Kashmir valley. By the time, he walked into the Kashmir valley, the fledgling outfit headed by former Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had lost several of leaders to Congress.
The BJP has been counting on Azad factor to sweep the Assembly elections in the Jammu region. But Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, former chief minister and head of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) look joyed over the arrival of Rahul Gandhi in the valley, hoping that they could ride on a national party to beat the BJP in the poll whenever the election is held in the UT.
Abdullah lent the Congress charge that the security of Rahul Gandhi was compromised. “I am witness to this. The outer ring of the (security) cordon which was maintained by J&K Police simply vanished within minutes of Rahul Gandhi starting to walk,” said Abdullah. He further stated that “we had just crossed into Kashmir from Jammu and were looking to the 11 kms walk but unfortunately it had to be cancelled”.
His substantiation of the Rahul Gandhi charge of the compromised security arrangement dropped hints of the coming together of the two parties. “Today, the police arrangement completely collapsed. There were no police officers present to control the crowd,” Rahul Gandhi had alleged. Congress chief Mallikarjuna Kharge too charged that “it was disconcerting to say the least” that the security arrangement was compromised.
Earlier, Abdullah had said that Rahul Gandhi’s family has a deep bond with J&K. The effusive praises of Abdullah showed that the void in the missing leader of a national party to strike rapport with the people in J&K, which had not been seen for years, has been largely filled with the arrival of Rahul Gandhi with his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’. It may be recalled that Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah in his last visit to the Kashmir valley had sought to showcase his outreach to the local people as he had visited a few places in the valley.
The BJP was predictably dismissive of the allegations, as the saffron outfit fielded spokesperson Gaurav Bhatiya to trash the charges of Congress.
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