Surprising his security personnel and locals, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi stepped out of his vehicle at business hub Lal Chowk and sipped tea at a roadside tea stall, thereby concluding his three day visit to Jammu & Kashmir. Gandhi was on way to the airport in the afternoon when his cavalcade stopped near Budshah chowk. He stepped out of his vehicle and walked towards a roadside tea stall. Eyewitness said that as Gandhi came out of state Congress office, he suddenly stopped at Budshah chowk to spend some moments at a tea stall before leaving for the airport. [related-post] He was accompanied by state congress chief Ghulam Ahmad Mir and Congress general secretary and J&K Incharge Ambika Soni. “His vehicle suddenly stopped outside my stall and he walked inside,” said Farooq Ahmad, a tea vendor. “He asked to make a tea and stayed for around 7-8 minutes.” Ahmad said the Gandhi’s security personnel also handed money to him. “His security man came and handed two hundred rupees to me,” he said. “A lady (Ambika Soni) came to me and told me inko achi se roti dena chai ke sath (give him fresh bread along with the tea).” Soon after the Congress Vice-President entered the tea stall, the shopkeepers and pedestrians gathered near the tea shop and started clicking his pictures. In the afternoon, the Congress Vice-President visited the Congress headquarters in Srinagar, where he interacted with the staff and the workers. Sources said that the visit to the state office was not scheduled and it was only decided after Rahul Gandhi showed his interest to visit the office on late Thursday evening. “It was not in the itinerary, but Rahul ji wanted to visit the office and interact with the staff and the workers,” said a congress leader. “He wanted the see the office as it was damaged because of the floods last year. He stayed for around fifteen minutes and then left for the airport.” According to a state congress spokesman, Rahul Gandhi also visited Khir Bhawani at Tulmulla in Central Kashmir and Hazratbal shrine to pay obeisance. He also visited Bal Ashram at Ishber in the city, to interact with children. On Thursday, while addressing the saffron growers at Pampore in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district, Rahul Gandhi had said that his ancestors belong to Kashmir and the visit is like homecoming for him.
