Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who led the party’s cross-country march ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ – which culminated in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday – arrived to a grand welcome by his supporters at his Delhi residence on Tuesday.
A video tweeted by news agency ANI showed his supporters welcoming Gandhi outside his residence; they also brought with them banners and pictures of him, while some were also spotted with flowers in their hands.
Gandhi led the party’s Kanyakumari to Kashmir march – which was largely perceived as Congress’ attempt to revive its political fortunes ahead of the 2024 general election. The last lap of the yatra had taken place in Kashmir’s Srinagar, where he also addressed a presser amid snowfall and said the yatra was not undertaken for himself or Congress but for the country as he accused the BJP and RSS of attacking the “liberal and secular ethos” of India. The final event of Bharat Jodo Yatra – to formally draw the curtains on the yatra – was, however, marred by a low turnout from opposition leaders.
“I know what hatred is. I have seen it. Those who haven’t seen or faced hatred, they get scared,” Gandhi said at Srinagar’s Sher-E-Kashmir stadium on Monday. “Security officials told me that you can walk freely in entire India including Jammu but in Kashmir, you must take a car. Venugopal (Congress general secretary KC Venugopal) told me the same thing. Few days ago, the local administration said ‘if you walk a grenade will be hurled at you’,” the Congress leader said, adding that the people of J&K instead “opened their hearts” for him.
“I decided I will walk amid the people. I thought I should give my haters an opportunity to change the colour of my shirt to red. [Mahatma] Gandhi taught me that if you have to live, live without fear. People of J&K didn’t throw grenade. They treated me as their own,” he said amid applause. He also pointed to the sacrifices his family has made — the assassinations of his grandmother Indira Gandhi and father Rajiv Gandhi — and blamed the top BJP leaders for not understanding the suffering of people.
