JAMMU: Elaborate security measures have been put in place here ahead of the two-day visit of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to Jammu and Kashmir beginning Friday.
Shah is scheduled to address a public rally in the Bhagwati Nagar area of the city and lay wreaths on the statue of BJP ideologue and Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee in Jammu on Friday morning.
The officials said on Thursday multi-tier security arrangements have been set up at the venue of the rally. Personnel from the police, CISF and CRPF have taken positions to guard the venue, they added.
Soon after his arrival in the city on Friday, Shah will offer floral tributes to Mukherjee at the BJP office at Trikutanagar.
He is also likely to visit Shri Tirupati Balaji temple in the Mujeen area on the outskirts of the city, BJP sources said.
After that, Shah will lay the foundation stone of the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory at Samba. He will also inaugurate and lay foundation stones of various development schemes in the city.
In the afternoon, the minister will travel to Srinagar and attend a function at Raj Bhavan for the inauguration and laying foundation stones of various development projects.
Shah will on Friday inaugurate the third and final high profile event of ‘Vitasta’ cultural festival at SKICC in Srinagar.
The third and final high-profile event of Vitasta cultural festival is set to begin with all pomp and show at SKICC, located on the picturesque banks of the famous Dal Lake, an official spokesman said, adding the Home minister would be inaugurating the carnival.
Apart from Shah, a multitude of distinguished dignitaries from Jammu and Kashmir, as well as other parts of the country, including Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Union Minister of State for Culture Meenakashi Lekhi, will grace the occasion, the spokesman said.
The grand festival, named after the ancient Vedic name of river Jhelum, aims to bring to life Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s, vision of ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ (One India, Great India) under the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ initiative, he said.
The festival being organised by the Union Ministry of Culture through the North Zone Cultural Centre, Patiala, is the last in the series of three programmes of ‘Vitasta’.
Earlier, this festival was organised in Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and Pune (Maharashtra).
The dignitaries will also visit the exhibition and art camp organised at the venue, the spokesman said.
He said the entry of the attendees would be strictly on the entry cards being issued by the organisers.
On Saturday, he will lay the foundation stone of the ‘Balidan Stambh’ in Srinagar before returning to the national capital.
On Thursday, top police and civil administration officials, along with senior BJP leaders, reviewed the security measure at Bhagwati Nagar.
J&K BJP chief Ravinder Raina said a large number of people will attend the rally to be addressed by the Union minister.
