Senior Congress leader and Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi will arrive in Srinagar on Wednesday on a personal visit and he will stay at snow clade Gulmarg, Congress sources say.
They said the Congress leader will be staying in Gulmarg for a few days. “He will be received by Jammu and Kashmir Congress president at Srinagar Airport and from there he will drive to Gulmarg,” said a Congress leader. He said there are no indications that he will be meeting Congress leaders during his visit. “It is his personal visit,” the leader said.
Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra which concluded on January 30 in Lal Chowk Srinagar with the unfurling of the Tricolour has drawn a good response in the Valley as thousands of people joined his walk when he reached Qazigund on January 27.
Local Congress leaders say Congress workers are feeling rejuvenated after Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. “The yatra has also brought back focus on Kashmir. And Congress leaders in the centre are regularly talking about issues faced by people like restoration of the statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and starting of the democratic process like holding elections,” says senior Congress leader G. N Monga.
During Bharat Jodo Yatra, Gandhi repeatedly described Kashmir as his home. “When I first entered Jammu a strange thought came to my mind that my family descended from Jammu and Kashmir and went to Allahabad and in some strange way I was making a reverse journey. So I felt in a way I was going home. That was a very powerful feeling I had. I had affection towards the people of Jammu and Kashmir and I come here with an open heart and I come here with open arms to help in whatever way I can. And I was humbled by the reception we got in Jammu and in Kashmir,” Rahul had said.
After returning to Delhi, Rahul hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for its demolition drive across Jammu and Kashmir. Rahul Gandhi accused Jammu and Kashmir administrations of snatching away land from people. He said the administration is snatching land from people they have irrigated through years of hard work. He said instead of love, people of J&K people are getting ‘Bhajpa ka bulldozer.’
