Ex-Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde Reflects on Jammu and Kashmir Visit, Says 'I Was Scared to Go to Lal Chowk' (Watch Video)

Congress leader Sushilkumar Shinde revealed that he was afraid to visit the iconic Lal Chowk in Srinagar during his tenure as Union home minister. Shinde made the admission at the launch of his memoir, Five Decades in Politics, written by journalist-author Rasheed Kidwai. 

#WATCH | Delhi: At the launch of his memoir 'Five Decades of Politics', Congress leader Sushilkumar Shinde says, "Before I became the Home Minister, I visited him (educationist Vijay Dhar). I used to ask him for advice. He advised me to not roam around but to visit Lal Chowk (in… pic.twitter.com/MJ4QhrKbwa

— ANI (@ANI) September 10, 2024

Shinde said that despite public perception of his bravery, he was nervous throughout his visit to Jammu and Kashmir in 2012. "Before I became the Home Minister, I visited him (educationist Vijay Dhar). I used to ask him for advice. He advised me to not roam around but to visit Lal Chowk (in Srinagar), meet people and go around Dal Lake. That advice gave me publicity and people thought that here is a Home Minister who goes there without any fear, lekin meri fat'ti thi wo kisko bataoon? (but who do I tell that I was scared?) I told you this just to make you laugh, but an ex-Policeman can't speak like this, he said as ANI quoted.

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Shinde, who served as Maharashtra's chief minister from 2003 to 2004 and as the Union home minister from 2012 to 2014, also held positions as Governor of Andhra Pradesh and was a vice-presidential candidate for the UPA in 2002.

Shinde’s comments have drawn a sharp response from the BJP. Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla accused the Congress of attempting to take Jammu and Kashmir back to a state of fear. “Shinde admits he was scared of going to J&K, and today Rahul Gandhi was seen comfortably participating in the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Kashmir,” Poonawalla wrote on X. “The Congress wants to take J&K back to days of terror.”

UPA era Home Minister Sushil Shinde admits he was scared of going to J&K

“They told me to go Kashmir and do Photo-op at Dal lake for me and UPA's Public image as Home Minister of India. But I was scared"

Today Rahul Gandhi was comfortably seen doing Bharat Jodo Yatra & snow… pic.twitter.com/ly4Nx1bLQQ

— Shehzad Jai Hind (Modi Ka Parivar) (@Shehzad_Ind) September 10, 2024

Shinde’s remarks come ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.