As the senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi would culminate his Bharat Jodo Yatra’s Punjab leg with a rally at Pathankot on Thursday, the party’s national president Mallikarjun Kharge would join him.
Kharge, who will also address the Pathankot rally, would be on a day-long Punjab visit. He would first be meeting the family members of late Jalandhar MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary, who passed away recently, and offer his condolences by visiting his residence in Jalandhar.
A senior party leader, Chaudhary died on Saturday after suffering a cardiac arrest during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Jalandhar’s Phillaur, following which the march was halted for 24 hours in respect to the departed soul.
A two-time MP, Chaudhary (76) was walking with Rahul Gandhi during the yatra when he fainted. He was rushed to a private hospital in Phagwara in an ambulance where he was declared brought dead. Chaudhary was cremated with full state honours on Sunday at his native Dhaliwal village in Jalandhar district.
Later, Kharge will participate in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, and address a public rally in the border town of Pathankot, after which the yatra will enter Jammu and Kashmir where it is scheduled to conclude on January 30.