JAMMU: Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah will arrive here today on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, bringing a dash of optimism and curiosity.

An element of interest will mark his visit, which will have a perfect mix of political engagements, development agenda and ‘ground assessment of security scenario', ahead of the annual Amarnath yatra.

One could have a fair reflection of this in the official itinerary, which was unveiled on Thursday, a day ahead of his visit.

His packed schedule involves the inauguration and foundation stone-laying of several development projects worth crores in two capital cities - maintaining continuity vis-à-vis his earlier visits to J&K.

As per official itinerary, the Union Home Minister will begin his visit, following his arrival in Jammu, by laying a wreath at the statue of BJP ideologue Syama Prasad Mookerjee in BJP office at Trikuta Nagar at 11 am. The visit coincides with the death anniversary of Mookerjee i.e., June 23.

Then he will proceed to Bhagwati Nagar - the rally venue, from where he will lay the foundation stone of Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Samba at 11.15 am. He will inaugurate and lay the foundation stones of several other development projects in Jammu from the same venue before addressing "Maha rally".

The rally is part of "Maha Jan Sampark Abhiyaan" programme of BJP to mark the completion of nine years of governance under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and highlight major achievements during this period.

In the afternoon, the Union Home Minister, as per official itinerary, will leave for Srinagar, where he will inaugurate and lay the foundation stones of several development projects worth crores for Kashmir in a function at Raj Bhawan at 4.30 pm.

Later in the evening, at 5.30 pm, he will attend "Vitasta Mahotsav" to be organised by the Union Ministry of Culture at SKICC, Srinagar.

Officially speaking, his next engagement will be to lay the foundation stone of "BalidanStambh" in Pratap Park, Srinagar at 10.30 am on June 24.

There may be room for meetings with some delegations and some additional engagements in his itinerary.

The Union Home Minister is scheduled to fly back to the union capital by June 24 at noon.

Notably, this will be his second visit to J&K within six months. On January 13, he had visited Jammu following the Dhangri terror attack.

CONTINUITY OF DEVELOPMENT AGENDA

Prior to it, he had visited J&K in October, 2022, when he had inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of 263 development projects worth Rs 1960 Cr in Jammu. More specifically, on October 4, 2022, he inaugurated 82 projects of around Rs 500 Cr besides laying foundation stones of 181 projects of around Rs 1460 Cr (in Jammu).

The very next day i.e., on October 5, 2022, he had inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of 240 development projects worth about Rs 2,000 Cr in Srinagar.

FOCUS ON SECURITY SCENARIO

Ahead of Amarnath Yatra, first-hand security assessment during high-level meet, which is always an intrinsic part of the visit of Union Home Minister, is also perceived to be quite significant.

This will be yet another opportunity for him (Home Minister) to review the ground report vis-à-vis fine contours of the fool-proof security grid envisioned by him for J&K, in the recent meetings chaired by him.

Fine contours of the grid are guided by his reiteration to security forces to "go full-throttle to wipe out terrorism and dismantle its ecosystem as a part of the fight which had already entered its decisive phase."

In January this year, during a security review meeting in Jammu also, he had asked all the agencies to "create a complete 360-degree security mechanism."

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

POLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE

On the political front, an element of surprise remains the highlight of his visit, thus leaving enough scope for speculations. During his visit in October, 2022, he had announced ST status for Paharis, besides several other significant announcements.Thus, anticipation vis-à-vis politically significant announcements always remains there and this time again, there is no exception. This generates a curious mix of optimism and interest, politically speaking.