Modi’s visit in early Feb to give boost to BJP prospects
*A public rally also under consideration
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Jan 16: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Jammu and Kashmir after two major events including Ram temple consecration at Ayodhya on January 22 and Republic Day celebrations on January 26 during which he will inaugurate and lay foundation stone of various projects in both the divisions while address to a public rally is also under consideration though not finalized yet. The visit is expected to take place early next month.
“The visit has been finalized. It is expected to take place in first or second week of February. A date will be announced shortly,” official sources told the Excelsior.
A series of projects including highest Railway bridge in Reasi district which will connect Kashmir valley with train by May-June next year are slated for inauguration by the Prime Minister, they said, adding that train to the Valley will take few more months but there is a proposal to run train beyond Banihal i.e. up to Khari where nearly 40 kilometers track is almost ready and security inspection has been completed.
This will bring Kashmir much closer by rail but linking Valley with rest of the country by train is expected to take few more months. Earlier, the project was expected to be completed by March but the deadline has now been revised to May. However, as per the sources, the train which presently runs between Banihal and Baramulla can easily be extended up to Khari i.e. a distance of another 40 kilometers which will further reduce the gap between Kashmir and Jammu by rail.
The CRS Railways recently conducted security inspection of Banihal-Khari track. As per the sources, a decision on extension of train services up to Khari will be taken shortly.
Besides highest Railway bridge in Reasi district, which is 95 feet taller than Eiffel tower, the Prime Minister is also expected to inaugurate Devika Rejuvenation Project in Udhampur district, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Vijaypur in Samba district, IIM Jammu and various other major projects which have either been completed or are nearing completion.
“A decision on inauguration of Shahpur Kandi project which is also close to completion and will benefit Samba and Kathua districts of the region is yet to be taken,” the sources said and added that the Prime Minister will also lay foundation stone of many new projects in the Union Territory.
Highest rail bridge, Devika Rejuvenation Project and Shahpur Kandi project falls in Udhampur-Doda Parliamentary seat while AIIMS and IIM are in Jammu constituency. Besides, many other projects to be inaugurated or started by the PM fall in entire UT.
The projects to be inaugurated or whose foundation stone will be laid by the Prime Minister run into thousands of crores, they said.
There are reports that the Prime Minister is likely to visit both the divisions-Jammu and Kashmir and launch the projects separately. However, schedule and venues of the visit are yet to be finalized, the sources said. They added that Narendra Modi could also address a rally during the day-long visit.
Modi’s visit to Jammu and Kashmir could boost BJP’s prospects in the Union Territory ahead of Lok Sabha elections as the party this time is eyeing three seats instead of two that it won for two consecutive terms in 2014 and 2019. Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Dr Jitendra Singh and Jugal Kishore Sharma won Udhampur and Jammu seats in last two Lok Sabha polls.
However, this time, the BJP is eyeing third seat Anantnag-Poonch-Rajouri which has large number of Pahari votes and the Government is going to give them Scheduled Tribe (ST) status in the upcoming Parliament session, which will be last session of the present Government.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah was scheduled to visit Jammu on January 9 to review security and development projects of Jammu and Kashmir besides meeting senior UT party leaders for discussion on Lok Sabha elections but the visit was deferred due to bad weather conditions.
Prior to that, BJP national president JP Nadda too had to cancel Jammu visit on January 7 but he addressed the party leaders virtually.
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