Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on March 7 address a public rally in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. This will be Prime Minister Modi’s first visit to the Kashmir Valley since his government abrogated Article 370 that gave special status to erstwhile state and bifurcated it into two Union Territories in August 2019.
The ‘Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir’ public rally will be held in Bakshi Stadium of Srinagar in the afternoon.
“At around 12 noon, Prime Minister will reach Bakshi Stadium, Srinagar, where he will participate in the ‘Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir’ programme,” a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said.
The last time the prime minister was in the Kashmir Valley was over five years ago in February 2019 ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
At Bakshi Stadium, a few miles from Lal Chowk, the city centre, the prime minister will dedicate to the nation Holistic Agriculture Development Programme, worth around ₹5,000 crore, to boost the agri-economy in Jammu and Kashmir. The prime minister will also dedicate to the nation and launch multiple projects related to the tourism sector, worth more than ₹1,400 crore, under Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation And Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive) scheme. This scheme includes a project for the integrated development of the Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar.
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“In an effort to create world-class infrastructure and amenities for pilgrims and tourists visiting the Hazratbal Shrine, and to enhance their holistic spiritual experience, the project ‘Integrated Development of Hazratbal Shrine’ has been executed,” said the PMO statement.
Besides this, the prime minister will distribute appointment orders to about 1,000 new government recruits of Jammu and Kashmir and will also interact with beneficiaries of various government schemes, including women achievers, lakhpati didis, farmers and entrepreneurs, at the event.
Among other projects to be launched on March 7 are tourism facilities developed in the Northeast circuit in Meghalaya, and spiritual circuit in Bihar and Rajasthan, to name a few. The prime minister will also launch the first-ever nationwide initiative to identify the pulse of the nation on tourism, in the form of ‘Dekho Apna Desh People’s Choice 2024’.
The public rally is part of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) election campaign for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. While the National Conference holds three Lok Sabha seats of Kashmir Valley, the BJP won two seats in the Jammu region in 2019. The lone seat in Ladakh is also with the BJP.
The party has repeated Union Minister Jitendra Singh and present member of parliament Jugal Kishore from Udhampur and Jammu parliamentary seats, respectively. The two names were announced in the BJP’s first list of candidates for Lok Sabha polls released on March 2.
Apart from two seats in Jammu, the BJP is focussing on the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat which comprises the south Kashmir areas of Shopian, Kulgam and Anantnag, and Rajouri-Poonch areas in Jammu. Before delimitation, the Anantnag seat comprised only the four south Kashmir districts – Shopian, Kulgam, Pulwama and Anantnag. The seat was won by National Conference’s Justice Hasnain Masoodi (retd) in 2019.
This would be PM Modi’s second visit to Jammu and Kashmir in less than a month. The PM addressed a public rally in Jammu on February 20 during which he also launched development projects worth over ₹32,000 crore across the country.
The BJP has set a target of 370 seats and 400 + for the NDA. Prime Minister Modi had for the first time mentioned the target 370 while speaking at the Jammu rally.
The prime minister has been on a whirlwind tour of the country ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha polls in the next 10 days. His speeches have focussed on ‘Modi’s Guarantees’ in which he highlights how the central government’s welfare schemes are not just promises but have in fact benefited beneficiaries.
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Published: 06 Mar 2024, 07:37 PM IST