Srinagar: Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and several other Congress MPs will not be able to attend the President's address to both Houses of Parliament on Tuesday due to delayed flights from Srinagar airport on account of inclement weather conditions, party leader Jairam Ramesh said. Several Congress leaders and MPs are in Srinagar for the concluding events of the Bharat Jodo Yatra that took place on Monday.
The President addresses members of both Houses in the Parliament's Central Hall on the first day of the budget session. "Due to delayed flights from Srinagar airport on account of inclement weather conditions, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, @kharge ji & many other Congress MPs will be unable to attend the President's address to both Houses of Parliament at 11 am today," Ramesh said in a tweet on Tuesday.
Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury tweeted his absence due to inclement weather in Srinagar, I've been stranded at the airport in Srinagar. I may fail to join the Presidential address in Parliament today. So I deeply express my regret, I'll communicate this to Speaker also. The Bharat Jodo Yatra ended on Monday with leaders of several parties joining Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as he capped his ambitious 145-day journey that covered some 4,000 km from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.
Earlier in the month, Bharat Jodo Yatra from Jammu and Kashmir was also stalled due to bad weather conditions. Amid incessant rains, Gandhi resumed the march from Ramban but inclement weather forced its suspension. The journey from Ramban to Banihal along the 270-km Jammu-Srinagar national highway - the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country -- is the most challenging due to several problematic stretches, including Panthiyal, Mehar and Magerkote which are prone to the shooting of stones from the hillocks overlooking the arterial road. (with Agency inputs)
