Union Home Minister Amit Shah is set to travel to Meghalaya on Saturday, for a two-day visit along with a few other Union ministers handling portfolios for the northeastern states.
According to news agency PTI, Amit Shah will also chair a closed-door meeting with the chief ministers, the chief secretaries, and the police chiefs of all the northeast states to likely discuss, among other agendas, the interstate boundary issue plaguing these parts.
The northeastern states include Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, and Sikkim. Among these states, Assam has reported boundary conflicts with Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Mizoram.
The Home Minister will be accompanied by Jitendra Singh, minister of state (MoS) for the ministry of development of the northeastern region, and G Kishan Reddy, minister of culture and development in the northeastern region of India.
Shah will have other official engagements in Meghalaya during his stay, PTI reported. The home minister will inaugurate the inter-state bus terminus (ISBT) at Mawiong in the outskirts of Shillong and a cryogenic plant at New Shillong Township, the agency added, citing officials familiar with the matter.
Following the events on Saturday, Union home minister Amit Shah will visit Sohra (erstwhile Cherrapunji) a day later to inaugurate the Greater Sohra water supply scheme and a separate afforestation project. He is also scheduled to pay a visit to the Ramakrishna Mission Ashram there on Sunday.
Meanwhile, security arrangements were tightened in Meghalaya ahead of the Union home minister's visit. The government has roped in the paramilitary forces to keep a strict vigil on the events and intensify patrolling in the city, especially in the vicinity of the venue and the roads leading to the ISBT and New Shillong Township. A mock drill to facilitate smooth movement of the Union minister's cavalcade from the helipad to the venue was also undertaken since Thursday as part of the security arrangements.
Home Minister Amit Shah is also scheduled to visit Guwahati on Sunday and will offer his prayers at Maa Kamakhya Temple after which he will attend a programme at Shankardev Kalashetra and will also inaugurate the Radio Therapy Block and New LINAC machine at State Cancer Institute at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital.
