New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that the police arrangement “completely collapsed” amid the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Jammu-Kashmir leading to him cancelling his part of the foot march for the day, as advised by his security personnel.
“This morning we had quite a large crowd that gathered. Unfortunately, the police arrangement completely collapsed and police people who were supposed to manage the crowd were nowhere to be seen. My security people were very uncomfortable with me walking further on the yatra so I had to cancel my yatra. The other yatris did the walk,” he said, addressing a press conference briefly.
“I think it’s important that the Police manage the crowd so that we can do the yatra. It’s very difficult for me to go against what my security people are recommending,” the former Congress president added.
Rahul said it is the administration’s responsibility to ensure that police do their duty and control the crowd. “I don’t know why this happened, but this should not happen tomorrow and the day after,” he added.
The remarks came shortly after the Congress party alleged that there was a serious security lapse amid the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra today at Jammu and Kashmir’s Quazigund as party leader KC Venugopal said that for 15 minutes, “there have been no security officers” with the Yatra.
“Security has been mishandled by concerned agencies here. For the last 15 mins, there have been no security officers with the Bharat Jodo Yatra here. This is a serious lapse. Rahul Gandhi & other yatris can’t walk without any security,” news agency ANI quoted him as saying.
