Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Thursday alleged that the politics of Congress thrived from "separatism" and said that the Congress defected from the places wherever the Bharat Jodo Yatra passed from.
"The Congress is expressing its love when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done whatever they (Congress) could not, like abrogating Article 370 of the Indian Constitution and making Jammu and Kashmir a part of the 'mainstream India'. The reality is that their politics thrived from separatism. 'Congress Todo' occurred from wherever the Bharat Jodo Yatra has passed from," Jitendra Singh said addressing the media persons in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua.
Recalling the days when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took out a similar march and the Congress opposed it, he said that three senior leaders of the party were arrested and sent to Pathankot while the others were sitting on a protest.
"We had seen that era when bloodshed was going on in the name of Jammu and Kashmir and terrorism was at its peak in the 1990s, the BJP took out a yatra at that time. It was this party and its leaders who opposed it then. They had attempted to stop it," Singh said.
He further added that when a similar yatra from Kanyakumari to J-K was taken out, three of their senior leaders- -Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and Ananth Kumar were arrested at the airport in Jammu and sent to Pathankot. "How can we forget that? We were sitting on a protest," he said.
In the 1990s, the BJP had come up with the Ekta Yatra, which began from Kanyakumari on December 11, 1991, and was scheduled to conclude with the Tiranga hoisting at the Lal Chowk in Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar on January 26, 1992. The entire yatra was planned, convened and organised by Narendra Modi, who is currently the Prime Minister of India
During that time, Kashmir had become a home to terrorists who used to insult the national symbols of the country and had threatened to draw out Kashmir from the country of religion.
As per the claims of Congress, the Bharat Jodo Yatra is the longest foot march by any political leader.
The Yatra entered the region at Kathua's Lakhanpur area in Jammu on Thursday evening.
Former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti, National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, and CPI (M) leader Mohamad Yousuf will also participate in the yatra at the different locations, Congress leaders have said.
( With inputs from ANI )
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