An upcoming visit of the Union Home. Minister Amit Shah has been cancelled.
Mr. Shah was scheduled to be on a two day visit to Tirupati on the 4th and the 5th of March. His visit was organised in the wake of the Southern Zonal Council meeting. However, the meeting and the visit of Mr. Shah has now been cancelled until further notice.
Though the reason behind his plan cancellation is not revealed officially, sources say that due to the Assam and West Bengal election campaign, Mr. Shah had to cancel the visit.
Another major reason behind the cancellation is non participation of the Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry (the Union Territory does not have a Chief Minister.)
The purpose of the Southern Zonal Council meeting is to discuss the issues in Southern India and plan its growth and development. However, due to the imposed Model Code of Conduct (MCC) in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry, the CMs of these states are not allowed to participate.
Meanwhile, Mr. Shah is also busy campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal, Assam and Kerala.
Chief Ministers of six states (Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Puducherry) were invited for the Southern Zonal Council meeting.
Lieutenant Governors of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep were also given an invitation to attend the meeting. The meeting was scheduled to be held on the 4th of March, at Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh.
Besides the CMs, several top officials of the Home Ministry and officials of the aforementioned states and UTs were expected to attend the meeting.
After the meeting, the Union Minister Amit Shah was to stay back for a day in Tirupati for the darshan of Lord Venkateshwara. He was later scheduled to chair a meeting of BJP functionaries and discuss the forthcoming by elections for the Tirupati parliamentary seat.
However, all these plans are now on hold as Mr. Shah is not going to visit Tirupati. The information regarding the cancellation of the Southern Zonal Council meeting was immediately passed to all states and UTs chief ministers and governors.
The next schedule of the Southern Zonal Council meeting is yet to be announced.
Stay tuned for further updates.
