Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 14: As Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today reiterated the demand to visit Jammu and Kashmir and asked Governor Satya Pal Malik when he could come, the Raj Bhawan said the Governor has already referred the matter to the local administration which will get in touch with the Congress MP at a convenient time.
“Rahul Gandhi has taken four days to respond on an issue, which already stands clarified and settled by various Indian news channels which have reported the correct positions. At present, the entire State administration is pre-occupied with making arrangements for celebrations of the Independence Day,” a Raj Bhawan spokesman said.
Asserting that the Governor has already referred the matter to the local administration, which will get in touch with the MP (Rahul Gandhi) at a convenient time, the Raj Bhawan spokesman said the Governor has no further statement to make on this issue.
Earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today repeated his demand to visit Jammu and Kashmir and asked Governor Satya Pal Malik when he could come.
He said he had accepted Malik’s invitation to visit Jammu and Kashmir and meet people without any conditions and termed the Governor’s reply “feeble”.
“Dear Malik (sic) ji, I saw your feeble reply to my tweet. I accept your invitation to visit Jammu & Kashmir and meet the people, with no conditions attached. When can I come?”, he asked.
On Tuesday, Malik had lashed out at Gandhi for putting “pre-conditions” for a visit to Kashmir valley and alleged he was trying to “create unrest” by seeking to bring a delegation of opposition leaders.
Following remarks by Gandhi that there have been reports of violence in Kashmir, Malik had said on Monday he will send him an aircraft to visit the Valley and observe the ground situation. However, Rahul had said he didn’t need aircraft but would come to Kashmir valley along with other Opposition leaders and would like to meet the people in the Valley.
As Gandhi had put forth many conditions for the visit, including meeting mainstream leaders under detention; the Raj Bhawan had reacted yesterday in a statement.
Hitting back at the Governor for “taking a U-turn” on his offer, the Congress said he should stand by his word.
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