STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: The demand for statehood is Jammu and Kashmir’s biggest issue and the Congress will use “our full power” to get it reinstated, party MP Rahul Gandhi said on Monday as his Bharat Jodo Yatra arrived here to a grand welcome. Gandhi, who met a cross section of people from Jammu and Kashmir during his yatra, said J&K has the highest level of unemployment in the country.
“The Congress party will fully support you and your statehood (demand). To reinstate statehood, the Congress will use our full power,” Gandhi told a gathering at the Satwari Chowk here.
“Statehood is your biggest issue. There is no big issue as big as statehood. Your right has been snatched,” he said.
Gandhi said he spoke to a cross section of people from J&K during his yatra and they raised their issues. He said they told him that their voices are not being heard by the administration. “The entire trade is being run by outsiders and people of J&K watch them sitting haplessly,” he said.
Gandhi said Jammu and Kashmir has the highest level of unemployment in the country. Youngsters aspire to become engineers, doctors and lawyers but they find they cannot, he said.
Rahul pays obeisance at Raghunath Temple
Jammu: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday paid obeisance at Raghunath Temple here, soon after his Bharat Jodo Yatra entered the city.
Gandhi, who was accompanied by senior party leaders, was garlanded by the priests at the temple.
Earlier, Gandhi’s yatra received a warm welcome as it entered Jammu from the adjoining Samba district in the afternoon with authorities further strengthening the security cordon around him. Gandhi, who walked wearing a white T-shirt, was welcomed by the public and party workers waiting in large numbers on either side of the road.
At Satwari Chowk, he addressed the concluding function of the day in Jammu.
Gandhi will stay the night in Sidhra area, where a mini camp has been set up.
“There was another way (to get employment) earlier. It was with the Army. It has also been closed now by a new scheme, called Agniveer, introduced by BJP. That path is also now closed,” he said.
Defending Congress’ decision to start Bharat Jodo Yatra to “unite” the country, Rahul Gandhi said the opposition party was forced to undertake the 3500-km foot march after it was not allowed to speak on the pressing public issues in Parliament. He slammed the BJP government at the Centre for demonetisation, “hasty implementation” of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the recently launched Agniveer scheme.
Gandhi alleged that the government is “facilitating” flight of money into the coffers of a few corporators and ruining the small businesses across the country.
“The democracy in the country is under attack which is a major challenge for the nation. Before the commencement of the Yatra, we tried to raise the issues like demonetisation, GST, farmers’ bill and China’s aggression in Parliament, both in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, but we were not allowed and the mikes were being switched off,” he said.
Gandhi reached Jammu on the 129th day of the Yatra after resuming from Vijaypur in Samba district in the morning, covering over 20 kilometres in six-and-a-half hours. After a night stay in Sidhra, the Yatra is scheduled to leave for Kashmir and it will enter there after Republic Day.
“We have come to open the shops of love in the markets of hatred. With this Yatra, we could see lakhs and crores of people have opened their shops of love, braving rains, cold and hot weather.”
He said the people from all walks of life including farmers, small traders, women and children shared their pain with him across different states during the Yatra and they all live together with love in this country.