BJY resumes after a break in respect of Santokh Singh; Moosewala's father joins march in Jalandhar

Hundreds of people including the late singer Sidhu Moosewala's father joined the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra as it resumed from the Khalsa College Ground in Jalandhar on Sunday after remaining suspended for 24 hours in respect of Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary.

Chaudhary died on Saturday after suffering a cardiac arrest during the yatra. He was cremated at his native Dhaliwal village in Jalandhar on Sunday. Gandhi also attended the cremation.

He also offered prayers at Devi Talab temple in Jalandhar before resuming the march around 3 pm.

As the march began, Singer Sidhu Moosewala's father Balkaur Singh walked with Gandhi for some distance. They walked hand-in-hand and hugged each other.             Later, Gandhi in a tweet shared his photo with Balkaur Singh and said he saw amazing courage and patience him.

"Today in Jalandhar, famous Punjabi singer and Congress leader, Late Sidhu Moosewala's father, Balkaur Singh ji attended the yatra. I saw amazing courage and patience in him. There is pride in his eyes for his son, and immense love in his heart. I salute such a father!" he said in his tweet in Hindi The Congress party also put out a tweet, saying, "Today in #BharatJodoYatra, Balkaur Singh Sidhu ji, father of famous Punjabi singer Late Sidhu Moosewala, along with @RahulGandhi ji gave a befitting reply to forces spreading hatred, fear and violence." Later, two youths presented Gandhi with a portrait of Moosewala.

Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, popularly known as Sidhu Moosewala, was shot dead in Punjab's Mansa district in May last year. He had unsuccessfully contested the 2022 assembly polls on Congress ticket from Mansa seat.

Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa, former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, MLA Pargat Singh and other party leaders took part in the march.

Gandhi waved to people waiting to take a glimpse of him as his march passed through Jalandhar. Many clicked pictures of Rahul Gandhi. One of the highlights was Gandhi clicking picture with an elderly woman and a girl.

The yatra will halt for the night in Adampur.

The Punjab leg of the march began on Wednesday from Sirhind in Fatehgarh Sahib. The yatra took a break on Friday in the wake of the Lohri festival.

The march, which started from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7, will conclude in Srinagar by January 30, with Gandhi hoisting the national flag in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir.

It has so far covered Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.