Jammu:
Rahul Gandhi's two-day Jammu and Kashmir visit is focused on the youth - he is scouting for young leaders for the Congress, meeting students and has been at pains to identify himself with the Kashmiri youth, drawing upon his filial connect with the state.
"I am a Kashmiri as a lot of you must be aware...so the pain and suffering of this place is my pain and suffering as well," said the senior Congress leader, whose paternal grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had Kashmiri roots. He was addressing students of Kashmir University in Srinagar last evening.
To the youth of the violence-torn state, Mr Gandhi talked about the violent death of his grandmother and his father; knitting into his narrative the pain of a 14-year-old who lost a loved one to an act of violence. "I want to share my personal story which I have never shared before. I was in a class looking outside the window, a person came into my class, said something to the teacher and I was told that there is a phone call for me. I went to principal's office and picked up the phone and a lady on the other side was crying and asked to come back home immediately. When I reached home I came to know that my grandmother had been shot dead," Mr Gandhi recounted, adding, "I don't want a political relationship with you."
But some youth in another part of the state, Jammu, were not in a mood to listen. Students of the Government Commerce College and the Science College protested against Mr Gandhi's visit saying his interactions were mere acts of self-promotion at a time when there were thousands of professionally-trained, but unemployed students in the state and that no one was paying attention to their plight.
That hiccup apart, Day 2 has seen Mr Gandhi interacting with more youth. He has invited students from the state to visit Delhi and has promised to take them to relevant ministries to give them an opportunity to voice their concern on various issues.
Tuesday breakfast was with Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and the two young leaders discussed the functioning of the Congress-National Conference government that Mr Abdullah heads in the state.
Apart from his meetings with the young people of J&K, the Congress leader is interacting with panches and sarpanches of various villages. Yesterday, he also addressed a public meeting in Kargil, Ladakh, before his interaction with the Kashmir University students.
In Srinagar, he paid a surprise visit to the Hazratbal shrine, offered prayers and interacted with tourists and locals there.
(With inputs from agencies)