Srinagar: The culmination of Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra began amid heavy snowfall in the state capital on Monday as Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge unfurled the national flag at the Congress office in the presence of party leader Rahul Gandhi. Donning a white T-shirt and a sleeveless jacket, the former Congress chief hoisted the flag at the campsite in Panthachowk to the tunes of the national anthem amid a fresh snowfall in the city.
The Gandhi siblings later joined Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and scores of other party leaders at the Pradesh Congress Committee office on the Maulana Azad Road. Another flag-hoisting ceremony was held here after their arrival. In a brief address to the 'Bharat Yatris', Gandhi thanked them for their love, affection, and support through the 136-day foot march which began in Kanyakumari on September 7 last year.
The local administration had made stringent security arrangements for the program as Lal Chowk was off limits for vehicular traffic for the second consecutive day. Thousands of officegoers had to foot a distance of around a kilometer or more to reach their workplaces in Lal Chowk and the adjoining areas.