Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has expressed his happiness over the Bharat Jodo Yatra reaching Jammu and Kashmir, calling it his homecoming.
"It is a great pleasure to reach Jammu and Kashmir as I go back to my home, where my ancestors had their roots. I am learning about and understanding more of me, every state, my country," Rahul tweeted on Thursday night.
The Yatra, which is on its final leg, entered the state at Kathua's Lakhanpur area via Pathankot-Punjab amid chants of "Nafrat Chodo Bharat Jodo" (Leave hatred and unite India),
Congress workers and supporters were seen carrying torch lights and party flags as the Yatra entered the state. The Yatra will spent next 10 days in the Union Territory before it ends in Srinagar on January 30.
In a customary handover function, Punjab's Congress unit gave the party flag to a leader from the Jammu and Kashmir wing. "The BJP and RSS have spread hatred. I earlier thought it ran deep but it does not and is mainly seen on television," Gandhi said in his first stop in Jammu and Kashmir, about 90 km from Jammu. He listed hatred, violence, unemployment and price rise as the main issues confronting the country and blamed the media for not highlighting them.
National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah too attended the function with Rahul. Welcoming him, Abdullah drew a parallel between the Shankaracharya and Rahul Gandhi. "Many years ago, Shankaracharya had undertaken a yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. And today you are doing it," the MP said here.
He said that today's India is not that of Ram's Bharat or Gandhi's Hindustan because people are divided on religion. "If we are together, we will be able to overcome the hatred of the present day," he said.
Abdullah also expressed his wish as he said he wanted to see "secular Hindustan again where everyone is respected" before he "closed his eyes."
Jairam Ramesh, Ashok Gehlot, Digvijay Singh, Abdullah, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan Party and former minister Lal Singh and Awami National Conference leader Muzaffar Shah were also there to welcome the yatra.
