BJP to hard-sell PM’s recall of ’91 visit, ministers share pics
Aditi Tandon
New Delhi, February 9
The BJP is all set to hard-sell PM Narendra Modi’s recall of the 1991 Ekta Yatra to Srinagar in the Lok Sabha yesterday during which he unfurled the National Flag at Lal Chowk amid threats by terrorists at the height of militancy period.
Top ministers today shared pictures of a young Modi hoisting the Tricolour at Lal Chowk on January 26, 1991. Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw captioned the picture “Bharat Maa ka Laal”.
Compare Bharat Jodo with Ekta Yatra
- PM Narendra Modi claims it’s now easy to visit Kashmir as against in 1991 when he took out Ekta Yatra
- Sharing visuals from the event, BJP ministers claim return of normalcy in Valley under the Modi regime
PM Modi mentioned the visit yesterday during his reply in the Lok Sabha to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address. The reference of Modi’s recall was the recent culmination of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra with the unfurling of the National Flag at Lal Chowk.
“Today, you can go to the Valley with ease and heads held high. I had also taken out a yatra to Kashmir in the second half of the last century and terrorists had pasted posters daring me to come to Lal Chowk. I addressed a public meeting in Jammu on January 24 where I announced that I would come to Lal Chowk at 11 am on January 26 without security and without a bulletproof jacket,” Modi said to a loud applause from the ruling BJP MPs.
In a veiled reference to Rahul, Modi also said, “People forget while they were on a yatra in Srinagar, theatres in the Valley are running house full after decades.”
Party leaders and ministers today shared visuals from the PM’s visit, with the party all set to contrast the situation in the Valley at the time of Modi’s Ekta Yatra vis-a-vis Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra.
The BJP has maintained that Rahul was able to hold a smooth yatra in J&K due to the return of peace in the Valley under the Modi regime.
Elections in J&K are expected any time soon, with parties already in the preparation mode. Leaders of the J&K’s main parties – the NC and the PDP — appeared alongside Rahul at the close of his yatra in Srinagar. The BJP has also been holding meetings to firm up its poll strategy in the UT.
