Congress MP, on the eve of culmination of Bharat Jodo Yatra, said in a press conference "Target killing and bomb blasts are happening in Jammu and Kashmir and if the security situation has improved then the conversation the security personnel are having with me should not have been required. If the situation is so good why don't the BJP people walk from Jammu to Lal Chowk? Why doesn't Amit Shah walk from Jammu to Kashmir if the situation is so secure? I don't think that argument holds."
Congress has alleged a security lapse during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Kashmir.
"This morning, we had quite a large crowd that had gathered and we were looking forward to walking on the Bharat Jodo Yatra, but, unfortunately, the police arrangement completely collapsed and the police people, who were supposed to manage the crowd and hold the rope, were nowhere to be seen," Gandhi said.
"So, my security people were very uncomfortable with me walking further on the yatra. So, I had to cancel my walk. The other yatris, of course, did the walk. I think, it is important that the police manage the crowd, so that we can do the yatra. It is very difficult for me to go against, what my security people are recommending," he added.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration said that the size of the crowd was larger than planned. "The size of the crowd was larger than planned which led to the pressure on the available security resources and created the impression that security arrangements were not in place. However, 15 companies of paramilitary forces and 10 companies of J-K police were deployed," RK Goyal, Additional Chief Secretary (FC), Home Department of Jammu and Kashmir said.
(With inputs from agencies)
