Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra has proved that Congress stands ready to make any sacrifices for the unity and integrity of India, Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Sunday.
Speaking exclusively to The New Indian after Gandhi unfurled the Tricolour at Srinagar’s famous Lal Chowk, the Congress leader hailed Rahul Gandhi for following the path shown by his grandmother Indira Gandhi and father Rajiv Gandhi. Indira and Rajiv were killed when they were serving as the prime minister of India.
“Rahul Gandhi has proved that the Congress party stands ready to make any sacrifice for the unity and integrity of the country. He did not need to take out this foot march. His grandmother and father were prime ministers,” Sukhu said.
The chief minister further said, “Rahul Gandhi could have chosen to carry on with his life but he launched this yatra because he realise the sacrifices made by his father and grandmother.”
Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel said that the Kanyakumari-Srinagar foot march has successfully sent out Congress’ strong message of solidarity with common Indians in their fight against hate, unemployment, and inflation.
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The senior Congress leader demanded the restoration of the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir and the conduct of state elections at the earliest. “This yatra has successfully sent out a strong message to people of this country with regards to the aims envisaged by Gandhi when he launched the yatra – unity against hate, inflation and unemployment,” he told The New Indian.
A day before the culmination of the yatra, Rahul Gandhi unfurled the national flag at historic Lal Chowk in the heart of Srinagar city on Sunday. Addressing a press conference later, he raised a series of issues including statehood to J&K, the Chinese incursion along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and rising hate in the country.
The former Congress president said that India has lost access to 2000 square kilometres of land to China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on the eastern front.
“The Prime Minister of India is frankly the only person in the country who is under the impression that the Chinese have not taken any land from India. I recently met some ex-army people and even the Ladakhi delegation had clearly said that 2,000 square kilometres of Indian territory have been taken over by the Chinese,” Gandhi told media persons.