The disarrayed Congress in Kashmir put a poor show in managing party Vice President Rahul Gandhi’s maiden visit to the embattled region after the humiliating defeat it faced in December 2014 Assembly elections that shunted it out of power after 12 years. A group of journalists boycotted the event after two Congress leaders Farooq Andrabi and Channi Singh failed to convince the SSG personnel to allow entry to invited media persons.
Gandhi, during his three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, addressed two public meetings in tight security at Dusso village of Pampore in south and Sopore in north Kashmir. He also chaired a party meeting at Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Center (SKICC) and interacted with a select group of flood victims and members of trade bodies. The journalists boycotted his proposed informal media interaction due to lack of coordination and objectionable behaviour of the event managers of the Congress. Rahul Gandhi sought to blame the Narendra Modi Government at the Center and PDP-BJP alliance at the State level for the negative developments taking place in the country and the State. He described the agitation in Gujarat as “repercussion of Narednra Modi’s politics of anger.”
“Our Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi is doing politics of anger and such politics has repercussions for the country, which you are seeing in Gujarat,” Gandhi said addressing a farmer’s rally in Dusso village of Pampore. The saffron-cultivating cluster of villages was chosen to remind the people that previous UPA Government introduced National Saffron Mission in the area to revive saffron cultivation.
Accusing Modi of perpetuating politics of anger and hate he said the BJP Government wanted people to fight and spread anger. “The anger only helps Modiji. It does not benefit the country, farmers, poor and businessmen and we have seen this in Kashmir,” he said.
The Congress leader later flew to volatile Sopore town where he again targeted the ruling alliance. However, the tight security arrangements turned the life of locals miserable. Reporters said there was curfew-like situation in the town and public vehicles were forced to change their usual routes.
The situation turned uglier at highly fortified Nehru Guest House in the Capital Srinagar where members of various delegations were refused entry despite received invitation letters for interaction with Gandhi.