The Congress has written to the Narendra Modi government about security breaches in the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Delhi, where police report to the Centre, and asked it to ensure protection as the Yatra that started from Kanyakumari enters the last lap next week on its way to Kashmir.

“I invite your kind attention to significant security breaches in the Bharat Jodo Yatra as it entered Delhi on December 24, 2022. The security was compromised on multiple occasions. The Delhi police completely failed in controlling the surging crowd and maintaining a perimeter around Rahul Gandhi who is assigned Z-plus security,” Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal said in a letter to Union home minister Amit Shah.

A video the Congress played at its news conference on Wednesday showed how the crowds had surged from all sides towards Rahul in the absence of rope barricades in the national capital. People jostled with each other and Rahul, whose father and grandmother were killed by assassins, was himself seen managing the crowds along with his aides.

Rahul Gandhi with mother Sonia in New Delhi on Wednesday. Rahul wished the Prime Minister’s mother, who was hospitalised following discomfort, a speedy recovery. “The love between a mother and son is eternal and priceless,” he wrote, in a Twitter message to the Prime Minister. PTI picture

The Yatra has been through nine states since it started on September 7 and the police had through the 2,800km journey up to Delhi formed a ring around Rahul and others walking with him with the help of ropes, regulating the entry of people.

Congress leaders said the safe encircled zone vanished as soon as they entered Delhi at Badarpur.

“The situation was so severe that the Congress workers and the Bharat Yatris walking along with Rahul Gandhi had to form the perimeter. At the same time, the Delhi police remained as mute spectators,” Venugopal wrote in the letter to Shah.

The Delhi police come under the Union home ministry.

The Congress reminded the government that it had lost two Prime Ministers, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, in assassinations and the party’s entire Chhattisgarh leadership in a Naxalite attack in 2013.

The letter requested the government to take adequate steps to strengthen security before the Yatra resumes on January 3 and travels through the border state of Punjab to enter Jammu and Kashmir, where the national flag is to be hoisted.

The Congress letter to Shah also alleged that people who had joined the walk were being harassed by intelligence officials.

It said: “Furthermore, to harass participants and prevent eminent personalities from joining the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Intelligence Bureau is interrogating many people who participated in the Yatra. Moreover, we filed an FIR on December 23 at Sohna City police station in Haryana regarding unknown miscreants belonging to Haryana state intelligence illegally entering Bharat Jodo Yatra containers in Haryana.”

Venugopal added: “According to Article 19 of the Constitution, every citizen has a constitutional right to assemble and move freely throughout the territory of India. Bharat Jodo Yatra is a padyatra to bring peace and harmony to the country. The government should not indulge in vindictive politics and ensure the safety and security of the Congress leaders.”

Detailing the Haryana incident, Vaibhav Walia, one of the Yatris who filed a police complaint, said: “That day one of our lady colleagues didn’t join the morning walk and stayed in the container at the campsite. She suspected somebody was trying to enter her container. When she came out, she saw one person standing in front of a container. Another person came out of the container. When she confronted them, both ran away.”

Walia added: “She caught a third person who too stepped out of the container and said he was there to use the toilet. When she asked him why he didn’t use the toilets at the campsite, the man ran away. Two of the men were caught and handed over to the police. We found that they were from state intelligence and decided to file the complaint.”

Party spokesperson Pawan Khera suspected sabotage. “Who will be responsible if they plant something inside the container? We are warning the BJP not to defame the Yatra. This is a yagna for peace and unity. Who disturbs a yagna? Only a monster. Anybody who is trying to stop India from getting united is definitely against the concept of a united India and is responsible for attempting to break India.”