Modi to have a busy Diwali visit to Srinagar

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Diwali visit here Thursday to express solidarity with the flood affected people of Jammu and Kashmir will be packed with meetings, government sources said.

The prime minister is expected to land at the airport here around 1 p.m. Thursday. He will then go to the Raj Bhawan where he will meet members of flood-affected families, including women and children, from different parts of the Valley.

"He will chair a meeting to review the relief and rehabilitation operations by the state and the central government agencies," a state government source told IANS.

"Modi is also likely to visit a relief camp in Srinagar," the source added.

Sources here also said that Modi is likely to announce a relief and rehabilitation package for the flood affected people in the state.

He is scheduled to fly back to New Delhi in the evening.

The visit, however, has evoked a mixed response from the main political parties in the state.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah welcomed the decision. The opposition Peoples Democratic Party too said the decision was welcome, but also said it would have been better had the prime minister visited the state during the Eid festival that followed the devastating floods of Sep 7.

This will be Modi's fourth visit to the state ever since he became the prime minister five months ago.