Modi to interact with govenment scheme beneficiaries, handover job letters to youth on Kashmir visit

Srinagar: On his first visit to Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to interact with beneficiaries of government welfare schemes, handover job letters to youth besides announcing new schemes and projects for the Union Territory (UT) on March 7.

The Prime Minister is likely to announce some new projects/schemes for Jammu and Kashmir during a historic rally at Bakshi Stadium where one lakh people are expected to gather, officials said.

He will also interact with beneficiaries of the government schemes via video conferencing from the rally venue, they said. Modi is also likely to hand over appointment letters to the youth.

Senior leaders of the BJP are already campaigning in the Valley to oversee rally arrangements. The local BJP leaders expect a crowd of one lakh at the venue.

On Sunday BJP's Kashmir unit said the UT government has arranged local transport facilities in districts of the valley to ensure “seamless” participation in Modi's rally in Srinagar on Thursday.

“This initiative aims to facilitate widespread attendance ensuring every Kashmiri can partake in this historic occasion,” the BJP Kashmir said in a statement.

Ahead of the PM’s visit, security has been heightened across Srinagar and elsewhere in Kashmir. The deployment of security personnel has been increased around the renovated Bakshi Stadium with barricades set up for checking the vehicles passing through the venue of the PM's rally, the officials said.

Police and paramilitary forces are conducting random checking of vehicles at dozens of places in the valley, the officials said.

Modi’s visit is expected to boost BJP's prospects of winning Anantnag-Poonch-Rajouri seat to mark presence in Kashmir for the first time as the party has never won Lok Sabha or Assembly seat in the Valley so far.

The BJP has been banking on the support of Pahari votes on Anantnag-Rajouri-Poonch seat to wrest it from the National Conference whose candidate Hasnain Masoodi won it in 2019 polls. People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti bagged the seat in 2014.

On Saturday the BJP released a list of 195 candidates for LS polls across the country. However, in the list, Anantnag-Rajouri-Poonch seat didn’t feature. There were reports that the party is considering the name of BJP UT chief Ravinder Raina for the seat.

The PM had visited the Jammu region on February 20 to inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of several development projects worth Rs 32,000 crore and addressed a massive public rally at Maulana Azad Stadium.