Home Minister Amit Shah To Inaugurate 'Vitasta' Cultural Festival In Srinagar Friday

The third and final high-profile event of Vitasta cultural festival is set to begin with all pomp and show at SKICC, located on the picturesque banks of the famous Dal Lake, the spokesman said, adding the Home minister would be inaugurating the carnival.

Apart from Shah, a multitude of distinguished dignitaries from Jammu and Kashmir, as well as other parts of the country, including Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Union Minister of State for Culture Meenakashi Lekhi, will grace the occasion, the spokesman said.

The grand festival, named after the ancient Vedic name of river Jhelum, aims to bring to life Prime Minister Narendra Modi's, vision of 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat' (One India, Great India) under the 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' initiative, he said.

The festival being organised by the Union Ministry of Culture through the North Zone Cultural Centre, Patiala, is the last in the series of three programmes of 'Vitasta'. Earlier, this festival was organised in Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and Pune (Maharashtra).

The dignitaries will also visit the exhibition and art camp organised at the venue, the spokesman said. He said the entry of the attendees would be strictly on the entry cards being issued by the organisers. Shah will arrive in the Union Territory on Friday during which he will attend various development programmes in Jammu and Srinagar.

The minister will begin his tour of J-K by laying wreaths on the statue of BJP ideologue and Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee in Jammu on Friday morning.

After that, Shah will lay the foundation stone of the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory at Samba. He will also inaugurate and lay foundation stones of various development schemes in the city. In the afternoon, the minister will travel to Srinagar and attend a function at Raj Bhavan for the inauguration and laying foundation stones of various development projects. On Saturday, he will lay the foundation stone of the 'Validan Stambh' in Srinagar before returning to the national capital.