Union Home Minister to visit Jammu on June 23

Jammu: Ahead of Amarnath Yatra, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah is arriving here in Jammu on a day-long visit on June 23.

As per his tentative schedule, he will address a public rally in Jammu to mark the “martyrdom day” of BJP ideologue Syama Prasad Mookerjee and hold a high-level security review meeting before flying back to the union capital the same evening.

“There may be changes in the Itinerary as finer details about the VVIP visit and the schedule are being chalked out. Even details about the rally venue, timing are likely to be decided during a meeting to be convened tomorrow. A lot would depend upon weather also vis-à-vis changes in tentative itinerary. Once finalised, it will be shared in public domain,” official sources maintained.

It is also very likely that he may start his visit to the winter capital after paying obeisance at Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) in Jammu outskirts.

On June 8, the Union Home Minister was to virtually attend the “Maha samprokshanam” of Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple but he could not do so due to some sudden and pressing work.

“Union Home Minister Amit Shah ji was expected to grace today’s occasion with his presence but due to some indispensable work, he couldn’t join us. He has conveyed his best wishes and told me his future event in Jammu will start only after paying obeisance to Sri Venkateswara Swamy,” the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha had later stated, while addressing the gathering there. 

Notably, the Union Home Minister on June 9 had reviewed the security and other arrangements for the Amarnath Yatra at a high-level meeting in the union capital, with the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha. 

Army’s Northern Commander Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi, Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, J&K Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta,  Additional Chief Secretary Home Raj Kumar Goyal, Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Principal Secretary to LG Dr Mandeep K Bhandari, J&K Director General of Police Dilbag Singh, Director Intelligence Bureau Tapan Deka and Director Generals of Border Security Force, CRPF and BRO besides other senior officers too had participated in the meeting.

The 62-day long yatra to the 3,880 metre high holy cave shrine of Shri Amarnathji will begin on July 1 from two routes — the traditional 48-km Nunwan route in South Kashmir’s Pahalgam and the 14-km Baltal route in Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal. It will culminate on August 31.

Earlier, J&K Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Ravinder Raina Tuesday evening first broke the news of the Union Home Minister’s visit to Jammu on June 23 to address a public rally.   

“Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit Jammu on June 23 to address a grand public rally, the day coinciding with the Balidan Divas of Dr Shyama Prasad Mukharjee (Syama Prasad Mookerjee),” Raina said, while chairing a meeting held at party headquarters in Jammu.

The meeting was organized in connection with the Maha Jan Sampark Abhiyaan programme being held on the completion of nine years of governance under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

BJP general secretary (organization) Ashok Koul, general secretary advocate Vibodh Gupta, Chander Mohan Gupta, Sham Lal Sharma, Yudhvir Sethi too attended the meeting besides other senior leaders.

Raina, while speaking in the meeting, said, “Mega public rallies are being organized at each parliamentary constituency. In the Jammu parliamentary constituency, a mega public rally will be organized in Jammu city on June 23, which will be addressed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The leaders and activists of the party have to devote more and more time to mobilize the public to come to rallies and listen to him (Shah).”

Ashok Koul, while addressing the meeting, said that while celebrating nine years of the Modi government, the party witnessed massive response from the public and was working to boost the morale of its activists at the grassroots level.

He said that the people in large numbers should reach the rally venue, for which proper work needed to be done well in time.

He said that the ongoing Maha Jan Sampark charged every leader and activist of the party and as such, there was great enthusiasm among them. They were reaching the people with the task of highlighting the achievements of the Narendra Modi government and welfare schemes launched during the past nine years.

Vibodh Gupta, in the meeting, said that the party functionaries should also highlight the Jammu visit of the Home Minister and appeal to the public to come and listen to the visiting minister.

Later, Raina, speaking to few media persons, stated that the final details about the venue of the rally would be discussed with the officials in a meeting to be convened tomorrow.