Amid heavy snowfall, the 136 days Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi concluded at Srinagar-the capital city of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Before addressing the concluding function at Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium of Srinagar Rahul Gandhi ultimately wore a "Pheran" to protect himself from the bone-freezing chill of the Valley.
After reaching Kashmir Valley Rahul Gandhi was seen wearing a sleeveless jacket over his white T-shirt for the last couple of days. Today he wore the traditional Kashmiri "Pheran" amidst heavy snowfall and severe cold.
Soon after attending an event at the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters on Maulana Azad Road Srinagar, Rahul Gandhi emerged in a grey "Pheran" as he headed to the Sher-e-Kashmir Cricket stadium for the closing ceremony of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Rahul Gandhi's white T-shirt hit the limelight during the Yatra.
Since the beginning of this Yatra from Kanyakumari on September 7, 2022, Rahul Gandhi has been wearing a T-shirt. Congress supporters earlier had hailed Rahul Gandhi for being cold-resistant when he was seen wearing a T-shirt in the chilling weather of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh during his Bharat Jodo Yatra. Congress leader Salman Khurshid went on to call him a superhuman for wearing just a T-shirt in the cold weather.
During the last some days, Yatra has been more focused on the T-shirt of Rahul Gandhi rather than issues being raised by him during a series of meetings.
Recently, while replying to questions from media persons, Rahul Gandhi pointed out that poor people who walked alongside him also did not wear warm clothes, but the media chose to only make his choice of clothing an issue.
कॉलेज के दिनों में फुटबॉल खेलते वक्त @RahulGandhi जी के घुटने में लगी चोट 'भारत जोड़ो यात्रा' में चलते वक्त फिर से उभर आई।
— Congress (@INCIndia) January 30, 2023
दर्द बढ़ गया, यात्रा मुश्किल लगने लगी।
और फिर एक चिट्ठी आई, जिसने उस दिन दर्द का नामोनिशान मिटा दिया।
सुनिए वो किस्सा ?? pic.twitter.com/Ae3v6qKheP
"Questions about my T-shirt are not the real issue. The children, farmers, and labourers of India walking around without warm clothes during winter is the real issue," Gandhi said.
"I walk wearing T-shirts. Many children of poor farmers and labourers walk with me in the Yatra wearing torn clothes but the media doesn't ask why children of poor farmers and labourers are walking without a sweater or jacket during winter," he asked.
Since the yatra arrived in northern India after starting from Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari on September 7, the media and leaders from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have targeted Gandhi with questions about his T-shirt, while people in the northern states freeze amid a winter season that has seen temperatures in the national capital drop as low as 2.2 degrees Celsius.
