Amid tight security arrangements, Union home minister Amit Shah is on his three day Jammu and Kashmir visit from today (October 23). Besides holding security review meetings, the minister will also address panchayat members and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers and a big rally in Jammu during his visit.

Hindustan Times reported that the Union home minister is scheduled to lay the foundation stone of two new medical colleges in the Union Territory.

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Soon after his arrival in Srinagar, Shah will chair a high-security review meeting at Rajbhawan in the afternoon. This meeting, besides Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, will be attended by top security, army and intelligence officials. The review of the security situation will be done amid a wave of targeted terrorist attacks that left 11 civilians dead in the region this month.

Shah will also hold an interaction with young members of Jammu and Kashmir’s Youth Clubs at Raj Bhawan, Srinagar. In the evening, he will also inaugurate the Srinagar-Sharjah International flight.

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The home minister will also address panchayat members and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers, people familiar with the matter said.

This will be Shah’s first visit to the Union territory ever since the revocation of Article 370, which bestowed special status to the erstwhile state, in August 2019. He last visited Jammu and Kashmir in June 2019 after the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance swept to power at the Centre for a second term.

The Union minister, whose visit is part of the Centre’s continuing outreach campaign, is also expected to review the implementation of development schemes in the region. Last month, he held a review meeting on J&K with lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha and senior security officials in the national capital.

Meanwhile, security measures have been tightened across the Valley, especially in Srinagar city as forces stepped up checking and frisking activities, especially in Srinagar from the last many days.