The police have said the Congress's Bharat Jodo Yatra is going on smoothly In J&K contrary to the claims of the party, adding that a three-tier protection is being given for the march to proceed smoothly.
ADGP Vijay Kumar said, "We're giving 3-tier protection, all security arrangements have been done. Bharat Jodo yatra is going on smoothly. Traffic has also been diverted, there won't be any problem. No security lapses happened yesterday, so many people did foot march."
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has also written to Home Minister Amit Shah seeking his intervention in ensuring adequate security for the Bharat Jodo Yatra. The march was in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday after following the 'security lapse'.
The Congress had alleged that the Jammu and Kashmir Police had withdrawn security around its leader Rahul Gandhi in the wake of surging crowds during the foot march in Qazigund.
Kharge apprised Amit Shah of the details of the Yatra over the next two days and requested him to personally intervene in the matter and ensure adequate security. He said he was writing to Shah after the 'unfortunate security lapse.
He wrote, "We are expecting a huge gathering to join the yatra over the next two days and also the function that will be held on 30th January at Srinagar. Many senior Congress leaders and leaders of other important political parties are attending the culmination function to be held on the 30th of January."
"I shall be grateful if you could personally intervene in this matter and advise the concerned officials to provide adequate security till the culmination of the yatra and the function on the 30th January at Srinagar," the Congress president said in his letter to the home minister.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that the police arrangement "completely collapsed" on Friday leading him to cancel his part of the foot march, as advised by his security personnel.
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 Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Gandhi started in Kanyakumari on September 7 and will culminate on January 30 in Srinagar after traversing through 12 states.
The 3500-km foot march is aimed at galvanising the Congress cadres across the country, but the party is claiming that the Yatra is not political and seeks to unite India in the wake of growing "hatred".