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New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, whose party has long assailed the ruling BJP for entwining politics and religion, was on Friday seen exhorting people to chant ‘Jai Mata Di’ from a stage in Jammu and invoking his Kashmiri Pandit lineage.
“Jai Mata Di,” he was heard saying, somewhat tepidly with a smile while addressing a congregation of Congress workers, and on seemingly not receiving the specified reaction, he went “Boliye, boliye (Say, say)” before repeating the Hindu chant a touch louder and getting a far better response.
“I am a Kashmiri Pandit. My family is Kashmiri Pandit. Delegation of Kashmiri Pandits met me and said that Congress implemented many welfare schemes for them but the BJP has done nothing. I promise that my Kashmiri Pandit brothers that i will be able to do something for them,” Mr Gandhi also said.
On a two-day visit to Jammu, the 51-year-old travelled to the Vaishno Devi shrine from Katra on foot on Thursday, with the optics of the pilgrimage clear.
In videos, the Congress MP was seen walking briskly alongside pilgrims on the 14-km stretch resulting in the shrine, surrounded by security personnel. Congress workers holding up party flags lined the pathway.
“I have come here to supply prayers to the Mata (mother goddess). i do not want to form any political comments here,” Rahul Gandhi told reporters who chased him to the shrine. The media wasn’t allowed to require their cameras.
The Congress posted videos during which the MP was seen interacting with pilgrims.
This is his second visit to Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation in August 2019 of Article 370, which gave special status to the previous state. Jammu and Kashmir was divided into two territories.
Critics have pointed to a marked uptick within the Congress leader’s display of religiosity before key elections with moves like temple visits and disclosures by aides of his Brahmin ancestry. The BJP has called the moves “opportunistic”.
Some just like the Communist Party of India-Marxist, which has found itself allying with the Congress in several fronts at the centre and in state elections despite being rivals in Kerala, has within the past labelled these efforts as “soft Hindutva” and a feeble effort match the BJP.
Reacting to Mr Gandhi’s comments on Friday, the BJP issued a press release saying, “Rahul Gandhi very conveniently forgot that the woes of the Kashmiri Pandits were due to the ‘politics of appeasement’ of Congress and like-minded parties. Congress for its petty vote bank politics sacrificed not only the Kashmiri Pandits but also the event of Kashmir.”
“The problems of Jammu and Kashmir are the legacy of the Gandhi family. it had been Nehru who was liable for the issues of Kashmir… Rahul has once more done what he’s best at – immaturity and Irresponsibility,” it said.
