The Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be visiting Chhattisgarh on June 22nd, after a delay caused by the Ahmedabad plane crash. The visit, which was originally planned for June 16th, will now see him arriving in Raipur in the evening, with an overnight stay at the BJP headquarters. A key focus of the visit will be a high-level meeting dedicated to the Naxal issue. This meeting will involve top officials from central security forces, including the CRPF, BSF, and ITBP. Moreover, Amit Shah may visit the home of Additional SP Akash Rao Giripunje, who was killed in the Sukma Naxal attack, to pay his respects. Specific details about the timing and itinerary are still awaited.
Several key administrative decisions are also expected during the visit. The state is awaiting an expansion of the Vishnu Deo Sai cabinet. A new Chief Secretary needs to be appointed as Amitabh Jain retires this month, and the selection of a full-time DGP, despite recommendations from the UPSC panel, remains pending. The in-charge DGP and Himanshu Gupta are included in the panel. It is speculated that decisions regarding these issues will be made during Amit Shah’s visit. The new Chief Secretary must be appointed before Amitabh Jain’s retirement in 11 days. The Union government’s influence on the appointments of Chief Secretaries in various states suggests that the central government will play a crucial role in the appointments of the Chief Secretary and the full-time DGP in Chhattisgarh. The state government is expected to consult the Home Minister before these critical appointments are finalized.
Also, meetings with the BJP organization, potentially with MLAs and prominent leaders, are on the cards.