As Bharat Jodo Yatra, led by Rahul Gandhi, entered the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah likened the Congress MP with the Vedic scholar, Adi Shankaracharya.
This is for the second time during the foot march that Rahul Gandhi has been compared to a figure on a high pedestal -- first with Lord Ram and now Shankaracharya.
Drawing parallels while addressing the public meeting in Jammu and Kashmir's Lakhanpur, Abdullah, who served as the Chief Minister when Jammu and Kashmir was a state, said that Rahul Gandhi is the first person after Shankaracharya to have undertaken a yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.
"Centuries ago Shankaracharya came here. He walked when there were no roads but jungles. He had walked from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. Rahul Gandhi is the second person who took out a yatra from the same Kanyakumari and is reaching Kashmir," Abdullah said.
The octogenarian leader further said that the aim of this yatra is to unite India.
"The aim is to unite India. Hatred is being created in India and religions are being pitted against each other. The India of Gandhi and Ram was one where we were all one. This yatra is attempting to unite India. Its enemies are enemies of India, humanity and people," he added.
Adi Shankaracharya was an eighth-century Indian mystic and philosopher who consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta and made a significant contribution to unifying Hinduism by setting up four "mathas" across India.
Earlier, Congress leader Salman Khurshid had compared Rahul Gandhi to Lord Rama.
Khurshid said, "Rahul Gandhi is superhuman. While we are freezing in the cold and wearing jackets, he is going out in T-Shirts (for his Bharat Jodo Yatra). He is like a yogi doing his 'tapasya' with focus."
"Lord Ram's 'khadau' goes very far. Sometimes when Ram ji cannot reach, Bharat takes the 'khadau' and goes to places. Like that, we have carried the 'khadau' in Uttar Pradesh. Now that 'khadau' has reached Uttar Pradesh. Ram ji (Rahul Gandhi) will also come," Khurshid added.
The Congress' yatra on Thursday entered Jammu and Kashmir. The march entered the region in the Kathua's Lakhanpur area.
Supporters carried party flags and torch lights as the yatra marched ahead later in the evening (Thursday).
Farooq Abdullah, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti, National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut have participated in the yatra at the different locations.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra that started from Kanyakumari in September is scheduled to end on January 30 in Srinagar.
( With inputs from ANI )
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