Farooq Abdullah travels on bus to welcome Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra at J&K's Lakhanpur

Lakhanpur (Jammu and Kashmir): National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and senior party leaders travelled on a bus from his Jammu residence to Kathua to welcome the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra at this entry point of Jammu and Kashmir.  The march entered Lakhanpur via Pathankot - Punjab on Thursday evening marking the final phase of the yatra, which started from Kanyakumari on September 7.

The yatra is scheduled to culminate at Srinagar with Gandhi hoisting the national flag at the party headquarters on January 30. A National Conference leader said party leaders and workers left in several vehicles to join the yatra. The 85-year-old Abdullah, a former Chief Minister, accompanied by senior leaders, including several former ministers and legislators, left in a bus from his Bhatindi residence in Jammu for Kathua around 1.30 pm, he said.

The bus reached Kathua, about 90 km from Jammu, around 4 pm and Abdullah straightway visited the residence of former minister Lal Singh. "I am happy about his (Lal Singh's) decision to join the yatra as unity in diversity is our power... we have to leave hatred behind and take the country forward together," Abdullah told reporters, downplaying the statement of his son and former chief minister Omar Abdullah.

He said the yatra is for the benefit of the country and "had I been young, I would have walked, along with Rahul Gandhi, from the launch of the yatra. I am old and cannot walk nonstop". He said he believes that the ray of hope seen by Mahatma Gandhi is still alive in Jammu and Kashmir. "I have joined the yatra in Delhi, joining it here (Lakhanpur), and will be joining it again and again when it reaches Jammu and in the valley," he said, adding the people of Jammu and Kashmir are distraught due to the misgovernance of the BJP. 

"They (BJP) are saying the situation has become normal, but the reality is that terror incidents have gone up. The Home Ministry is responsible for the security situation," he said. Asked about the Election Commission not announcing the assembly polls in J&K, he said the delay in elections was tantamount to attacking democracy, which they want to finish. "It is unfortunate. The Election Commission should have been an independent body, but they are under government pressure.