Rahul Gandhi on Saturday visited Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district. The key religious site was hit by Pakistani shelling earlier this month when border tensions peaked between the two countries in the aftermath of India's Operation Sindoor.
In a video shared by news agency ANI on X, Mr Gandhi, in his trademark white shirt and a pair of black pants, is seen paying obeisance at the gurdwara.
"Visited temple, gurdwara and madrassa affected by Pakistani attacks in Poonch today," the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha wrote on X and shared a video of his visit to the region.
Thirteen civilians, including two students, died in Poonch district, the worst-hit by Pakistan shelling between May 7 and 10.
Mr Gandhi visited the Union Territory for the second time since 26 people were killed in the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22. Before this, he visited Srinagar on April 25 and met those who sustained injuries during the terror attack.
At the time, the Congress MP also spoke with Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
On Saturday morning, the Rae Bareli MP arrived at the Jammu airport and left for Poonch in a helicopter. Soon after his arrival, Mr Gandhi visited the areas severely affected by Pakistani shelling and met the bereaved families.
During his visit, he also met school students who lost two of their friends - Zain Ali and Urwa Fatima - to the Pakistani shelling in Poonch town on May 7.
Consoling them, Gandhi told the students to "study hard, play hard and make lots of friends," PTI reported.
He assured them not to worry, adding, "Everything will come back to normal".
Besides this, he visited the families of people who died in shelling and inspected damages to houses and other religious places.
During their meeting with the Congress leader, a few residents sought his intervention to enhance the compensation for their damaged houses.
Post the Pahalgam terror attack, India retaliated strongly with Operation Sindoor and targeted nine terrorist sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
