Congress president Rahul Gandhi and general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday visited Shamli in Uttar Pradesh to pay respects two CRPF troopers killed in last week’s terror attack in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir.
They attended religious ceremony for Amit Kumar and visited the family of another jawan Pradeep Kumar in Banat village of Shamli. The two were among 40 troopers killed in a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy.
Priyanka consoled Amit’s wife and spent time with her and other women who had gathered to mourn the trooper’s death.
The brother-sister duo of Rahul and Priyanka referred to the assassination of their own father and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 while expressing their grief and vowed to stand with the bereaved family.
“We have experienced grief and know how are feeling. Not just us but the entire nation is with you. Don’t feel you are alone. We are with you and we will take care of you,” said Priyanka Gandhi after garlanding a picture of the slain trooper according to IANS.
“I have lost my father and I can understand how you must be feeling. While it is a sad day, your son’s sacrifice is equally a matter of pride not just for you and us but for the entire nation, Rahul Gandhi said.
Out of the 40 troopers killed in Pulwama, 12 were from Uttar Pradesh.
This is the second time this month that the Gandhi’s have travelled to Uttar Pradesh with Scindia after the three of them launched a mammoth road show in Lucknow on February 11.