Rahul Gandhi pays obeisance at two Valley shrines

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Friday concluded his three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir after paying obeisance at two shrines in the Valley.

He paid obeisance at the Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar where, he said, he prayed for the peace and prosperity in Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of the country.

The Congress vice president earlier went to a holy shrine of Kashmiri Pandits, Tullamulla, in north Kashmir's Ganderbal district.

"Rahul Gandhi prayed at the Tullamulla shrine where many locals gathered outside to have a glimpse of the Congress leader," said a senior local Congress leader who accompanied Rahul to the shrine.

He also went to Ishbar temple on the outskirts of the city.

Rahul's grandmother and former prime minister Indira Gandhi visited the Ishbar temple during her visits to Kashmir.

Before his departure for New Delhi, Rahul Gandhi met party legislators and senior leaders at the Srinagar airport. He flew back to Delhi in the afternoon.

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Moonga told IANS that the party vice president asked Congress legislators and other senior leaders to work relentlessly to highlight the problems faced by the people and work to help solve these problems.

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi surprised party leaders and workers as he stepped out of the party office in Srinagar and visited a roadside tea stall on the Maulana Azad road, where he had a cup of tea and chatted with the stall owner.

Party sources said Rahul also savoured a bit of 'nadir manji', lotus stems covered in batter and deep fried in mustard oil.