Video Producer: Aparna Singh
Video Editors: Abhishek Sharma and Rajbir Singh
As the Bharat Jodo Yatra culminated on Monday in a flag hoisting ceremony in Srinagar, multiple important opposition parties ended up giving the event a miss. A total of 21 opposition parties were invited for the event in a bid to build a ‘united opposition’ against the BJP, but some key parties, including the Congress’ allies in some states, skipped the event.
The political parties that did not show up for the event include the JDU, RJD, CPM, TMC, SP, NCP and the Shiv Sena.
Meanwhile, political parties that joined the finale event included the DMK, NC, PDP, VCK (formerly Dalit Panthers), IUML, Kerala Congress, JMM, RSP, Forward bloc and CPI. Interestingly, the BSP, which was expected to miss the event also sent a representative with its MP Shyam Singh Yadav attending the ceremony.
Snowfall Derails Plan
Among those that didn’t attend the event, many were scheduled to show up, but the heavy snowfall derailed their plans. Sources said that the Shiv Sena, NCP and CPM were among the parties that couldn’t travel to Srinagar due to the snowfall. These parties had previously shown their support for the yatra.
Kuldeep Singh Rishi, the Srinagar airport director tweeted that all 68 flights to the city got cancelled on Monday.
Other parties like the JDU had already declined the invite, and parties like the TMC and SP were unlikely to show up.
Among those that weren’t invited to the event in the first place are the Aam Aadmi Party, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Bharat Rashtra Samiti (formerly TRS), and Ghulam Nabi Azad’s Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP).
Opposition Leaders In Attendance Praise Rahul Gandhi
Speaking at the event, NC leader and former Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah congratulated Rahul Gandhi for the yatra, and urged him to commence a similar yatra from east to west, which he would like to join.
“It has been a very successful yatra...The nation needed this. It has proved there are people who like the BJP and there are those who want a new government without the BJP, and who want harmony, peace and love with each other, something the BJP cannot give,” Abdullah said.
CPI leader D. Raja too spoke at the event saying that, “all secular parties must come together to liberate the country from BJP."
Meanwhile, PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti said that the entire country is seeing a “ray of hope in Rahul Gandhi.”
Finally, Rahul Gandhi too took the stage and noted that the secruity establishment had warned him of taking such a journey on foot in Jammu and Kashmir, but that didn’t deter him. “I thought let me give an opportunity to those who hate me, to change the colour of my white T-shirt to red. My family taught me and Gandhiji taught me to live fearlessly. Otherwise, it would not be living. But it happened just as I expected, the people of Jammu and Kashmir didn’t give me a grenade but only love,” he said.
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