Bharat Jodo Yatra: Rahul Gandhi blames J&K government for security breach

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has accused the Jammu and Kashmir government of not providing a security cover for his ongoing "Bharat Jodo Yatra", which entered the Kashmir valley today. Rahul Gandhi said that he had to cancel hisYatra in South Kashmir on Friday as there were no policemen for crowd control.

"This morning we had quite a large crowd that had gathered. And we were looking forward to walking on the Bharat Jodo Yatra, but unfortunately, the police arrangement completely collapsed and the police people who were supposed to manage the crowd were nowhere to be seen," said Gandhi.

"So, my security people were very uncomfortable with me walking further. So, we had to cancel my yatra. The other yatris did the walk. The police must manage the crowd for the yatra to go on. It becomes difficult for me to go against what my security people are saying," he added.

Congress leaders said that Rahul Gandhi was supposed to walk 16 km today but he had to cancel the walk after four kilometres as there were no policemen to control crowd. They have now asked the administration to provide enough security for the yatrain the coming days.

Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah, also joined Rahul Gandhi in the "Bharat Jodo Yatra" on Friday. He also alleged that the moment they entered the Kashmir Valley, the policemen guarding them vanished within minutes.

"I'm witness to this. The outer ring of the cordon which was maintained by J&K police simply vanished within minutes of @RahulGandhi starting to walk. We had just crossed into Kashmir from Jammu & were looking forward to the 11 KM walk but unfortunately, it got cancelled," said Omar.

Congress leaders, however, said that they are hopeful that security arrangements would be elaborate forGandhi's upcoming events across the Kashmir region including his culmination rally in Srinagar.

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