A boat carrying journalists capsized in the Dal Lake earlier today in Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir. They were covering a BJP rally led by Union Minister of State for Finance, Anurag Thakur.
Boat carrying journalists capsizes during #BJP boat rally during DDC election campaign on Dal Lake in Srinagar, Kashmir. Journalists and activists rescued immediately. pic.twitter.com/PCBHl3U4jh
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) December 13, 2020
All the journalists were rescued immediately. However, soon after the news was published, Islamists took to social media to celebrate the incident.
Doobti Nayya in Dal Lake Srinagar 😂😂😂
— M. (@H_trath) December 13, 2020
(BJP rally) pic.twitter.com/WPfnI8LufW
Blessing your timeline
— Jaan_🍁 (@DarIrfanAh) December 13, 2020
Boat carrying BJP activists capsizes in DAL lake during poll rally led by Anuraag thakur 😂 pic.twitter.com/YuySVoFkaD
BJP rally drowned at dal lake .finally some thing good happend in this year 2020.
— SAMIR (@SAMPARAY1) December 13, 2020
is dal lake is antinational pic.twitter.com/CZ76RvpzUf
Some even expressed with that they could have seen this live.Indian Occupied Kashmir: Shikaara boat sank during BJP really in Dal lake.
— Fatima Zahra 🍁 (@FatiMaS_ZAhRa2) December 13, 2020
The Dal lake water became polluted 🤮@BKYMofficial #BKYM pic.twitter.com/2nmtQsuh5F
Junaid here identifies himself as a photo journalist.BJP activists trying to recreate the iconic Titanic climax in Dal Lake Kashmir 🤣 #DalLake (PS Mai bhi srinagar se hu par afsos ye live nahi dekh paaya) 😂 pic.twitter.com/Q3MtcfnpM5
— A D E E M (@adeemd) December 13, 2020
Shikara turns turtle during BJP Shikara rally at Dal Lake
— Junaid Bhat Photographer (@Junaidbhatphoto) December 13, 2020
🤭 pic.twitter.com/iOCbIfAxp1
Moment of the year when BJP supporters drown in dal lake. Even our waters are rebellious pic.twitter.com/9UAJeHClvm
— American Kashmiri (@AfaaqKashmiri) December 13, 2020
Politicians too chimed in
Congress leader Salman Nizami too joined in.
J&K PDP spokesperson Najmu Saqib tweeted that ‘imported’ lotuses do not grow in ‘our’ Dal Lake, thereby trying to show that Kashmir is not a part of India.BJP drowned in Dal Lake, Kashmir! pic.twitter.com/B6BAbmjitW
— Salman Nizami (@SalmanNizami_) December 13, 2020
Imported lotuses do not grow in our Dal Lake.
— Najmu Saqib (@SAAQQIIB) December 13, 2020
P.S Hope everyone is safe. pic.twitter.com/jgfWC1eiVq
On Sunday, polling began for the 6th phase of DDC (District Development Council) election being held in J&K for 31 seats. Besides these, voting is also on for 334 Panch and 77 Sarpanch seats. The 8-phase elections started from 28th November and will conclude on 19th December.
These are the first major elections in the region after abrogation of Article 370 in erstwhile state of J&K which made J&K an integral part of India without any riders attached. These polls are crucial for the Peoples’ Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), a group of mostly regional political parties, the BJP and the newly formed Apni Party.