A day after twin bomb blasts rocked Jammu, the Congress on Sunday said the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ will conclude in Srinagar on January 30 as per schedule and there will be no compromise on the security of Rahul Gandhi.
The party also announced that Rahul Gandhi was likely to celebrate Republic Day with the people of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) at Banihal – the gateway town to Kashmir along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. After a day's break on Saturday, the yatra resumed from Hiranagar on Sunday and will reach Jammu on Monday.
Two back-to-back explosions rocked a busy locality on the outskirts of Jammu on Saturday, leaving nine people injured. Officials said IEDs were used to carry out the explosions in an SUV parked in a repair shop and in a vehicle at a nearby junkyard at the Transport Nagar area of Narwal.
“There will be no compromise on the security of Gandhi. His security is our topmost priority and we are following the guidelines of security agencies in totality,” Congress chief spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said at a press conference at Chak Nanak in Samba, where the Yatra will stop at night halt.
J&K AICC in-charge Rajni Patil, J&K Congress chief Vikar Rasool Wani and party chief spokesperson Ravinder Sharma also addressed the press conference, asserting that the Yatra will conclude as per schedule.
“Rahul Gandhi is staying back in the Union Territory and is likely to hoist the Tricolour at Banihal along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway on Republic Day,” Wani said.
Condemning the terror attacks, party spokesman Sharma said the last leg of the Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir was chalked out in consultation with the security agencies.
“We are concerned about the safety and security of our leader. The twin explosions at Narwal and another in Bajalta a day earlier raise a question mark on the security arrangements," he said.
“We accept that the security agencies are fully alert and are doing their job satisfactorily, but claims of the government that terrorism has been finished falls flat in the wake of such incidents. On December 31 last, they (security agencies) claimed that terrorism had been eliminated and the next day there was an attack in Dhangri village of Rajouri, leaving seven people belonging to the minority community dead,” he alleged.
The party also said that there will be no change in the Yatra programme as its nitty-gritty have been planned in accordance with the guidelines issued by the security agencies and the Lt Governor administration.
Asked about the party's stand on now abrogated Article 370 of the constitution, Jairam Ramesh said, “It is a serious issue, but what is more serious right now is the restoration of democratic activities in Jammu and Kashmir.”