In his first-ever Srinagar visit since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a mega event at the iconic Bakshi Stadium on Thursday.
The stadium is draped in the national tricolour with security personnel deployed at every nook and corner. Forces are using drones and put CCTV in several areas for increased surveillance.
Barricades have been put up and vehicular diversion is in force for the VVIP movement. It’s a complete lockdown within the two kilometre radius around the stadium.
PM Modi is scheduled to inaugurate Rs 5,000-crore “Holistic Agriculture Development Programme”. Officials say that this project will help nearly three lakh farmers by setting up a “Daksh Kisan” portal.
Apart from the portal, as many as 2,000 “Kisan Khidmat Ghars” are also part of the project, which will be established in the Union Territory.
The event will also see a launch of 52 tourism-related projects under PRASHAD schemes, Swadesh Darshan. The Hazratbal Shrine redevelopment project will be announced on Thursday.
Jammu and Kashmir State Polls
The last time PM Modi visited Srinagar was in February 2019 just before the General Elections were announced. The former state of Jammu and Kashmir has not seen state elections since 2018. After the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, PM Modi did not visit Srinagar. Since the historic move, the only meeting that was held between PM Modi and the leaders from Kashmir was in 2021.
In this meeting that was held in June, 14 top leaders from the region – from Mehbooba Mufti to Omar Abdullah and his father Farooq Abdullah – had met the PM. During the meeting, PM Modi had said that he wanted to lessen the ‘dil ki doori‘ as well as ‘dilli ki doori’. He had told the leaders that the Center is committed towards reviving democratic process of state polls. Despite the outreach, the leaders and the Centre did not arrive at a conclusion regarding the Assembly polls. Jammu and Kashmir has remained without an elected Assembly since Article 370 was repealed.
2024 Lok Sabha Elections Buzz
Meanwhile, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the INDIA alliance of Opposition parties faced a setback as the National Conference (NC) announced its decision to contest all three Lok Sabha seats in the Kashmir Valley. This move sets the NC against the Peoples Democratic Party, the two major parties in the Valley. Furthermore, it raises doubts about the future of the Peoples Alliance for the Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), a coalition of political parties formed in 2020 to advocate for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.