Mr. Gandhi also appealed to the people of J&K—who vote September 18, 25, and October 1 for the first Assembly election since 2014—to set up’shops of love in the market of hatred.’.
New Delhi:
Sparking controversies, Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said that he enjoys ‘blood’ relations with people of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). He added that restoration of statehood—the center downgraded J&K to two union territories in August 2019—scraping Article 370 is a priority for both him and Congress.
Turning her gaze at the Modi government, the Leader of the Opposition said, “We expected this (restoration of statehood, a demand of many opposition parties and activists) will be done before the election, but it is okay. Elections have been declared. It is a step forward.”
Mr Gandhi also called upon the people of J&K who vote on September 18, 25, and October 1 to open shops of love in the market of hatred; this has been the swansong of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
I and each one of you here love the people of J&K. I have a very old relationship, a blood relationship with them,” he said at a party event in Srinagar that was also addressed by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.
“And it is our priority, similarly to the priority of the INDIA bloc, to get statehood back as soon as it possibly could,” said Mr. Gandhi, referring to the Congress party’s meeting in Srinagar. “Although we expected this would be done before the election, it does not matter… Elections have been declared, and we are also expecting statehood to be restored and equal rights for the people of J&K.
