Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday – his first in his third term – to send a major political message after the successful conclusion of general elections in the union territory.
The 10th International Yoga Day will be celebrated on the occasion, during which he will participate in a youth program. Being in Jammu and Kashmir and leading a yoga program on the banks of Dal Lake at this location will be an exercise in optics for the international community.
Ten years ago, the United Nations declared June 21 as the International Day of Yoga and last year, the International Day of Yoga was celebrated at the United Nations headquarters in New York under the leadership of PM Modi.
With the visit sandwiched between two elections — the recently concluded general elections and the upcoming assembly elections, for which preparations are underway — it also sends a positive signal across the country and the world.
The visit is also expected to balance the anxiety in the Jammu region following a series of terror attacks. After the abrogation of Article 370 and the record voter turnout in the Kashmir Valley, security questions have been raised following the backlash from terrorists.
The prime minister's presence is meant to signify the government's confidence and its long-term plans for peace and prosperity in Jammu and Kashmir.
The former state, which was bifurcated into two Union Territories in 2019, had its last state-level elections in 2014. In June 2018, the coalition government of the BJP and the People's Democratic Party fell as the BJP broke ties.
Now the sources say that preparations are going on in the Election Commission on a war footing. The May 2022 delimitation order created a 90-member assembly, with 47 seats in Kashmir and 43 in Jammu.
The other major event on the cards for PM Modi's third term is the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, which many expect to be scheduled after the assembly elections.