Showering praises on the people of Jammu and Kashmir, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said he was thankful to the people for embracing and welcoming him with open arms during the final leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Gandhi said he was warned about an alleged attack on him during the final rally marking the conclusion of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Srinagar.
“Several people advised me to traverse the yatra in a vehicle. My security team, KC Venugopal, and those organising it advised me to do so. The administration, maybe to scare me, said that grenades would be thrown at me. Why shouldn’t I give those who hate me a chance to turn the colour of my white shirt to red? My family and Gandhi ji have taught me that if I have to live my life, I must live it fearlessly. But as I thought, instead of tossing grenades, the people of Jammu and Kashmir opened their hearts and embraced me.”
The comments by Gandhi come in the wake of an alleged security lapse at Jawahar Tunnel, stating that police were missing in controlling the crowd that had come for his reception.
“My security guards advised me not to go ahead,” Gandhi said two days ago, addressing a news conference at Khanabal, Anantnag.
During the final leg of the yatra, Gandhi hoisted the national flag at the campsite.
The Congress leader later joined Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, among other party leaders at the Pradesh Congress committee office on the Maulana Azad Road, where another flag hoisting ceremony was held.
Shedding light on Rahul Gandhi’s “resolve” to carry out the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Kharge said, “We were startled when Rahul Gandhi initially expressed his resolve to carry out the Bharat Jodo Yatra. We were concerned about whether this would be a success or not. Now, I would heartily congratulate him for carrying out this yatra to him and over two hundred people who joined the yatra.”
Rahul Gandhi stressed on the fact that the yatra was carried out for the people of India.
“I have not this done work for myself or the party. But this work was done for the people of India. It is our endeavour that we stand unitedly against the ideology that is trying to break this country. I know once we stand unitedly against it, we can beat them and remove that ideology from their hearts. We are opening a shop of love in the marketplace of hatred,” said Gandhi signing off.
Gandhi thanked the Bharat Yatris who had joined the yatra for their love, affection and support through the 136-day foot march, which began in Kanyakumari on September 7 last year.
The foot march traversed a distance of 3,570 kilometres across 12 states.
Source- Hindustan Times.
