From left, India's opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, National Conference President Omer Abdullah, Congress party leaders Priyanka Vadra, Mallikarjun Kharge and Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti pose for the media at a public rally as it snows in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Monday, January 30, 2023
INDIA’S opposition Congress party ended a five-month cross-country “unity march” in the disputed territory of Kashmir today.
Hundreds of members of various opposition groups joined a public rally in freezing weather.
The march, led by leading Congress politician Rahul Gandhi, sought to challenge what the party says is a “hate-filled” version of the country under the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu chauvinist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Members of various opposition parties, including Kashmiri regional groups that oppose Mr Modi’s policies, joined the rally in Srinagar amid snow and bitter cold.
Hundreds of police and paramilitary soldiers blanketed Srinagar’s Lalchowk area and restricted public movement, allowing only people with Congress-issued passes to enter the venue.
Mr Gandhi accused Mr Modi, the home minister and the national security adviser of stoking violence and said that he wanted to show that India is a “country of love.”
The Bharat Jodo Yatra (Unite India March), which covered 2,218 miles across 12 states, began in Kanyakumari, a coastal town at the southernmost tip of India, on September 7 last year.
The BJP dismissed the march and speeches as a political gimmick by the opposition aimed at regaining “lost credibility.”
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