Rahul Gandhi visits Khardung La mountain pass during bike trip in Ladakh. Watch
Rahul Gandhi visits Khardung La pass in Ladakh during bike trip.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who is on a bike trip to Ladakh, reached Khardung La mountain pass in the union territory. This comes a day after Gandhi celebrated the birth anniversary of his late father and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi at Pangong Lake in eastern Ladakh.
Visuals from agencies showed the 53-year-old leader posing for pictures with people.
Khardung La is a mountain pass in the Leh district of Ladakh. The pass is on the Ladakh Range, north of Leh, and connects the Indus river valley and the Shyok river valley. It is the gateway to the Nubra valley, beyond which lies the Siachen Glacier.
On Saturday, Rahul Gandhi rode a motorbike for over 100 km to reach Pangong Lake from Shey village. Congress spokesperson Tsering Namgyal earlier said that before returning to Srinagar probably on August 24, Rahul has to visit Kargil, probably on August 22 or 23, to meet the party leaders, workers and the people from a cross section of society. Rahul will meet party workers and leaders ahead of elections to 30-member Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC)-Kargil.
On Sunday, Gandhi reiterated that “China has taken away people’s land and they are not being allowed to graze their cattle”. Addressing the media from Pangong Lake, he said, “For some logistical reasons, I couldn’t come here during Bharat Jodo Yatra and I thought of having a detailed tour. I came to Pangong Lake, will go to Nubra and to Kargil and had been to Leh to listen to people and their concerns.”
“Over here, people are concerned over their land being taken away by China. People have been affected because their grazing lands have been taken away,” he added.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has refuted Gandhi's claims of Chinese occupation of Indian land and called him the propaganda machinery of Beijing. Addressing a press conference, former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “Rahul Gandhi ji, you are raising questions over our soldiers’ bravery and sacrifice in Galwan… Why do you defame India visiting there? Why do you become China’s propaganda machinery?”