‘Go Back Rahul Gandhi, Go Back’: Kashmiris stage protest against Congress's Bharat Jodo Yatra

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi began his Bharat Jodo Yatra from Hatli Morh in this border area of Jammu and Kashmir.

Srinagar, Jan 20: Local Kashmiri people on Friday denounced Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra calling it a political stunt rather than a mass outreach programme.

"Go Back Rahul Gandhi," "Rahul Gandhi Hay Hay," the prosters yelled as they called it a sham. The protests were held at Lal Chowk in Kashmir.

"Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra is a political stunt. It is not for people. It is for their party which is on the verge of dissolution. Rahul Gandhi is conducting Yatra for his benefit and he has nothing to do with connecting people," one of the protesters said at Lal Chowk.

"It is Congress who has divided Bharat in the past. With what right is Rahul Gandhi coming here to meet Kashmiri people? He has done nothing for the state. Where was he when lakhs of Kashmiris were dying? This is all sham, a lie," he added.

Sanjay Raut of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Param Vir Chakra awardee Capt (retd) Bana Singh were among those who joined Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the Bharat Jodo Yatra which began its Jammu and Kashmir leg from this border district Thursday.

A delegation of veterans led by captain (Retd) Bana Singh who was awarded the Param Vir Chakra - the highest wartime gallantry medal for his bravery during operation Rajiv in the highest battlefield of Siachen in Ladakh in 1988 - also joined the foot march and walked alongside Gandhi for over 40 minutes.

Gandhi smiled, waved and flashed kisses to a family which had climbed on the terrace of their house and flashed 'BJP' and 'Pappu' on pieces of papers, while an enthusiastic Congress supporter was silenced by volunteers as he tried to raise slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.