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Ladakh people's 'political voice being suppressed': Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi reached Ladakh on August 17, his first visit to the union territory since it was granted UT status after Article 370 was revoked in August 2019.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday vowed to raise the issues of people of Ladakh in Parliament alleging that their "political voice" was being suppressed and the promises of employment by the BJP-led central government have turned out to be false.
Read here: Rahul Gandhi attacks Modi, reiterates China has snatched Indian territory
Gandhi has been touring the union territory of Ladakh for the past week. While taking a dig at PM Modi's monthly radio broadcast 'Man Ki Baat', the Congress leader said, “I went to every corner of Ladakh and talked to the youth, mothers and sisters and the poor. There are other leaders who only talk about their 'Mann Ki Baat'. I want to listen to your 'Mann Ki Baat'.”
"China has snatched away thousands of kilometers of India's land. The prime minister is lying by denying this and every person in Ladakh knows this," Gandhi said in an X post (formerly Twitter) in hindi.
Former Congress president further said that the main issue of Ladakh people is that the political voice was being suppressed and the promises of the central government on employment had turned out to be false, along with the lack of mobile network and air connectivity.
Read here: 'When Rahul Gandhi had food with Chinese envoy': BJP's retort to Cong's China jibe
"I will raise all these issues in Parliament in the next session," Gandhi said while thanking the people of Ladakh for the welcome and love he had received.
Meanwhile, reposting Gandhi's X post, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, said that taking forward the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi met the people of Ladakh. In the spirit of the foot march, he listened to their thoughts, he said.
"It is clear after listening to these problems that the Modi government has left Ladakh to fend itself. Leaders who are only interested in their 'Mann Ki Baat' can never allow the people's voice to be heard," Ramesh said on X.
Earlier today, the Congress MP from Wayanad, while addressing a rally in Kargil slammed the BJP alleging that it wanted to take away the land of the Ladakhi people and give it to the Adani Group.
"BJP people know that if you were given representation then they will not be able to take away your land, this is all about land, they (BJP) want to take away your land and give it to Adani so that he can set up his plant, but don’t share the benefits with you. But we will never let this happen" he said.
Gandhi also claimed that China was grabbing Indian territory in Ladakh. "Ladakh is a strategic location and one thing is very clear that China has taken away India's land. It is sad that the PM in the opposition meeting said that not even an inch of Ladakh has been taken by China. But this is a lie."
Read here: 'This is a lie’: In Ladakh, Rahul Gandhi's ‘China’ remark, a day after PM Modi-Xi meeting
Gandhi on Friday also visited the Kargil War Memorial in Drass and paid tributes to the Indian Army personnel who sacrificed their lives during the 1999 war with Pakistan.
Rahul Gandhi reached Ladakh on August 17, his first visit to the union territory since it was granted UT status after being carved out from Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019. The erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was also turned into a Union Territory with its special status after Article 370 was revoked.
Over the past week, Gandhi visited several parts of Ladakh, including Pangong lake, Nubra valley, Khardungla top, Lamayuru and Zanskar, on his motorcycle before reaching Kargil on Thursday.
