J&K weather forces Rahul Gandhi to wear jacket during Bharat Jodo Yatra; triggers debate [details]

Finally, the hostile weather conditions of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir forced Congress Rahul Gandhi to wear a waterproof jacket on the last phase of his Bharat Jodo Yatra on January 20, 2023.

Since the beginning of this Yatra from Kanyakumari on September 7, 2022, Rahul Gandhi has been wearing a T-shirt but today due to downpours in the Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir Rahul Gandhi ultimately wore a waterproof jacket to protect himself from the rains.

After a night stay at Hatli Morh near Lakhanpur-the gateway of Jammu and Kashmir, Bharat Jodo Yatra started moving towards Kali Bari. Before the beginning of the Yatra from Hatli Morh, a waterproof jacket was provided to Rahul Gandhi due to incessant rains in the area just near the India-Pakistan International Border.

While wearing only a T-shirt in the cold weather of northern India, Rahul Gandhi had said that he decided to wear only T-shirts during the Congress' ongoing Bharat Jodo after meeting poor girls shivering in torn clothes in Madhya Pradesh.

Congress leaders earlier hailed Rahul Gandhi for wearing a T-shirt amid severe cold

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.

"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.

Bharat Jodo Yatra entered J&K on Thursday for the concluding phase

The Bharat Jodo Yatra entered Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday evening. The Yatra was welcomed by a huge crowd and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah at the border of Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab.

"I am going back to my roots, I know the suffering of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and come to you with a bowed head," he said after entering Jammu and Kashmir through Lakhanpur-the gateway of the Union Territory.

He recalled that his ancestors belong to Jammu and Kashmir and said, "So, I have an emotional attachment to this part of the country".

On Friday Gandhi was joined by Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) party leader and member of Parliament, Sanjay Raut.