Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would inaugurate the first railway line in Kashmir and a major hydroelectric power project on Friday just before the expected announcement of the schedule for the state Assembly elections.
According to sources, the Election Commission, after holding a final round of consultations with political leaders and state authorities in Srinagar, is finalising the schedule of the Assembly elections and an announcement may come within a few days.
The election to the 84-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly is likely to be held in November in four phases over a period of one month.
In Kashmir, Singh is inaugurating a small railway-track — from Budgam in central Kashmir to Nowgam on the Srinagar outskirts — and later the 450 Mw Bhagliar hydroelectric project on the Chenab in Jammu district.
During the visit, Singh would be accompanied by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, while Union Water Resources Minister Saifudin Soz is already there to make arrangements for the visit.
The PM, who would also address a public meeting in Budgam on Thursday, is likely to make a major announcement related to the cross-border trade between Jammu and Kashmir and the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Separatists and even mainstream political parties like the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had led protests to demand reopening of Kashmir’s pre-Partition trade route to make the Valley less dependent on rest of India for its economic needs.