Sonia brainstorms with senior leaders

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday discussed with senior leaders the situation in J&K in the wake of the BJP’s proposed move to hoist the tricolour at Lal Chowk on R-Day.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday discussed with senior leaders the situation in J&K in the wake of the BJP’s proposed move to hoist the tricolour at Lal Chowk on R-Day.

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Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, defence minister AK Antony, health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel attended the meeting summoned to deliberate on the steps taken by the Centre and the state government to deal with the situation.

“We need to keep a strict watch on the evolving situation,” party sources said.

Gandhi had last week discussed the issue with J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah amid fears that the BJP’s planned ‘ekta yatra’ might cause law and order problems in the state.

The party hit out at the BJP, calling its proposed march the “most naked manifestation of political opportunism”.

“If they really love the national flag, they should first hoist it at the headquarters of their party’s parent organisation (RSS) in Nagpur,” Congress spokesman Mohan Prakash said.

He claimed the RSS for the first time after independence hoisted the tricolour at its Nagpur headquarters in 2003 following sustained agitation by the Congress since 2000.

“RSS does not even celebrate the Independence Day on August 15 but hoists a saffron flag at its headquarters and other offices on August 14,” Prakash alleged.

His party colleague Manish Tewari said, “The yatra is possibly the most naked manifestation of political opportunism... Why was this yatra not undertaken when NDA ruled for six years...” he said. “This use of national symbol for political gains needs to be condemned.”