Congress restarts Bharat Jodo Yatra after 9-day break, traverses areas hit during 2020 Delhi riots

Former Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) secretary Amarjit Singh Dulat, who also served as a special director of the Intelligence Bureau, joined Gandhi during the Delhi leg, leading to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lashing out against Dulat, and the party’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya calling him “controversial”

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra wrapped up its journey in Delhi on Tuesday after traversing parts of northeast Delhi that were affected during the communal riots in February 2020 and headed to Uttar Pradesh.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with former RAW chief AS Dulat in New Delhi on Tuesday. (PTI)

Former Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) secretary Amarjit Singh Dulat, who also served as a special director of the Intelligence Bureau, joined Gandhi during the Delhi leg, leading to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lashing out against Dulat, and the party’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya calling him “controversial”.

“Controversial former RAW chief AS Dulat joined Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. No one ever accused Dulat of being committed either to his job or the country he was meant to serve, supped with secessionists and Pakistan’s deep state and has a monumental role in Kashmir fiasco,” tweeted Malviya on Tuesday.

Dulat, who headed R&AW from 1999 to 2000, is the latest prominent personality to participate in the yatra In December last year, both former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan and actor-politician Kamal Haasan walked with the former Congress president, in Rajasthan and Delhi respectively. The Bharat Jodo Yatra arrived in Delhi on December 24 from Faridabad, Haryana, after covering a distance of 2,800km. Following a nine-day break, it resumed on Tuesday and entered Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh via the Loni border.

Security arrangements were beefed up for the rally on Tuesday, police said, after Congress general secretary KC Venugopalwrote to Union home minister Amit Shah last week, alleging that Gandhi’s security had been compromised multiple times after the Bharat Jodo Yatra entered Delhi through Badarpur. Delhi Police had subsequently said that Gandhi’s security will be increased.

Starting from the Hanuman Mandir in Kashmiri Gate, the yatra marched through Seelampur, Maujpur, Jaffrabad and Gokalpuri, leading to vehicles crawling on the main Maujpur Road, Yamuna Vihar Road, and Kashmiri Gate for a few hours.

Residents in the neighbourhood cheered for Gandhi as he passed through the area and praised him for reaching out to them.

Falak Mirza, 16, waited for over an hour outside Crescent Public School in Jaffrabad to catch a glimpse of Gandhi. The Class 11 student said that Gandhi’s emphasis on defeating hate resonated with her. “I feel that differences among people have increased in the past few years. We keep hearing about the differences between communities and religions. The area also witnessed riots. Such tragedies can be avoided if we focus on unity. Since Gandhi talks about defeating hate, I came to support him today,” said Mirza, a Jaffrabad resident.

Neeru Jain, who runs a shop on the main Maujpur Road, was excited to see Gandhi in person for the first time on Tuesday. Jain said that while she did not support Congress, she liked Gandhi. “There is a difference between watching Gandhi on TV and in person, so it was good to see him today (on Tuesday). He waved to us while marching through the area. He is talking about spreading love and positivity. Although I am a Bharatiya Janata Party supporter, we cannot deny that his message is good,” said Jain.

To be sure, in the recently concluded Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections, Congress won the wards that were most affected during the riots--Chauhan Bangar, Brijpuri, Mustafabad.

As the rally entered Loni around 1.30pm, thousands of Congress workers, leaders and local residents lined the streets to catch a glimpse of Gandhi, who was encircled by party workers and security officers as he walked through the town while waving at the crowds. The entire 18km route on the Delhi-Saharanpur Road was heavily manned by police and security officers, police officers said, adding the yatra entered Baghpat district at 5.30pm.

Ghaziabad police said the yatra crossed the district peacefully.

“The yatra entered Baghpat district on Tuesday evening and no untoward incident was reported,” said Iraj Raja, deputy commissioner of police (rural) of Ghaziabad.