Srinagar, June 22: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will arrive in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday for a two-day visit. He will address a massive public rally in Jammu, inaugurate and lay the groundwork for various projects, and review Amarnath Yatra preparations.
The Union Home Minister will be greeted at Jammu Airport by LG Manoj Sinha, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh, and other dignitaries. Following that, Shah’s cavalcade will attend a wreath-laying ceremony at Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee’s statue near the BJP Headquarters in Jammu’s Trikuta Nagar neighbourhood.
Later, he will also lay the foundation stone for the Central Forensic Lab (CFL) in Samba district. The proposed land for the forensic lab measuring around 25 kanals located near mini secretariat Samba.
The local administration has finalised arrangements for Shah to address a public rally at Bhagwati Nagar Jammu at 11:15 a.m. He will also inaugurate and lay the groundwork for various development projects in the area.
Shah is also expected to pay his respects at the Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) on the outskirts of Jammu.
In the evening, Shah will fly to Srinagar to inaugurate and lay the groundwork for several additional development projects. At 5:30 pm, he will attend the ‘Vitasta Mahotsav’ organised by the Ministry of Culture at the SKICC in Srinagar.
According to officials, Shah will also host a high-level security review meeting prior to the Amarnath Yatra. It will be attended by the administration as well as top security officers from the Army, Police, CRPF, and BSF.
On the second day of his visit, Shah will lay the groundwork for the ‘Balidan Stambh’ memorial, a symbolic pillar built to honour the heroic deeds of the security forces in Srinagar’s Pratap Park. He will then fly back to New Delhi in the afternoon.
The BJP’s J&K unit chief, Ravinder Raina, told reporters in Jammu that Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address a mega public rally at Bhagwati Nagar Jammu, with a large crowd expected to attend.
“So far, the party machinery has made preparations for approximately 30,000 people by placing an equal number of chairs at the JDA ground. Extensive preparations are being made to beat the heat by installing cooling fans and other air conditioners inside the big pandal,” he said.
Raina stated that party workers from Udhampur, Reasi, Kathua Samba, Doda, Ramban, Poonch, and Rajouri have been advised to arrive in Jammu before 10 a.m. to avoid inconvenience.
The BJP’s Media Incharge Manzoor Bhat said a special delegation from the BJP’s Kashmir Unit will meet with the Union Minister on Friday evening. “Party functionaries such as Altaf Thakur, Manzoor Bhat, Arif Raja, Anwar Khan, and Bilal Parray will also greet the Home Minister at Srinagar Airport,” he added.
Bhat stated that all preparations for the meeting have been completed, and that various J&K-related issues will be discussed.
Meanwhile, a senior police official told Rising Kashmir that security has been beefed up in Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir as a precaution.
In terms of preparations, the official stated that forces are on alert throughout the Valley and that additional police and paramilitary forces will be deployed at key locations along the Srinagar-Jammu highway.
Apart from CCTV surveillance, nakas, or checkpoints, will continue to operate along Valley’s major highways for the two days as a precautionary security measure to avoid any untoward incidents during the visit.
In Poonch and Rajouri sectors, the additional deployment of security forces has been placed to foil any untoward incident in the region.
The official said both police and paramilitary troops have intensified patrolling, vehicle checking, and frisking at various flashpoints in Mendhar Poonch and other vital highways in the region.
“The new security plan has already been framed and accordingly the deployment would remain in place for a smooth visit of the Home Minister to Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.