‘Amit Shah prepones J&K visit by four days'

Amid speculations of delimitation, Union Home Minister and BJP national president Amit Shah has preponed his visit to Jammu and Kashmir by four days, sources said.

They said Shah will visit the state for two days beginning June 26. Earlier, he was scheduled to visit the Valley for a day on June 30.

“The visit has been advanced due to the home minister’s busy schedule connected with the Union Budget. He will chair a high-level security meeting in Srinagar during his visit and will also address BJP workers and panchayat members separately during this visit,” sources said.

This would be Shah’s first visit to the state after winning parliament election and taking charge of Home Ministry. On his maiden visit as Home Minister, Shah is scheduled to pay obeisance at the Shri Amarnathji Shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.

“Shah will perform traditional Pooja at Amarnath cave and later review the security situation in the Valley. During the visit he would be briefed about the security situation in Kashmir, particularly the drills carried out for safety of Amarnath pilgrims,” sources said and added he will also meet the governor, Satya Pal Malik and discuss the prevailing security scenario in the state with him.

On June 4, immediately after the formation of new government, Shah was given a detailed presentation on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and BJP’s demand for carrying out a delimitation exercise for getting more seats for Jammu region in the state assembly.

“Discussion on delimitation exercise will also be on the agenda of Home Minister’s visit to Kashmir. Besides party’s roadmap for upcoming Assembly elections and its membership drive will be the focus of the meetings in Kashmir,” they said and added the Home Minister will be briefed about the ground situation in the sensitive state by top officials of police and security agencies.