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Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah, who retained the portfolio of Union home and cooperation ministries on Monday, said the ministry of home affairs (MHA) will continue to accelerate and strengthen security initiatives.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah was allocated the Union home and cooperation ministries by Prime Minister Narendra Modi (HT PHOTO/Ajay Aggarwal).
“Gratitude to PM Shri @narendramodi Ji for reposing trust and reassigning me the roles of Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation,” Shah said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“In Modi 3.0, the MHA will continue to accelerate and strengthen security initiatives and introduce new approaches to realize PM Modi’s vision of a secure Bharat,” he added.
“Under the astute leadership of Modi Ji, the Ministry of Cooperation will remain committed to empowering farmers and villages with the vision of ‘Sahakaar Se Samriddhi’,” he added.
PM Modi and 71 ministers took the oath of office and secrecy on Sunday at a ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won the Lok Sabha elections.
People familiar with the development said Shah’s reappointment to lead the home ministry would help ensure continuity in the pace of implementation of the projects undertaken in Modi 2.0.
The three new criminal laws — Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Bharatiya Saksha Adhiniyam (BSA) — which seek to replace the British-era Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively, will come into effect from July 1.
Besides, the MHA has started granting citizenships under the Citizenship Amendment Act or CAA, passed by Parliament under Shah’s previous stint.
Officials said citizenship certificates were being given as and when applications were verified and the work will continue at a regular pace.
Over the next few days, the home minister is first expected to hold a meeting of security agencies deployed in Jammu and Kashmir and ask them to strengthen the security grid, especially in Rajouri, Poonch and Reasi, where there are reports of the presence of terrorists.
Terrorists opened fire at the 53-seater bus, on its way from the Shiv Khori temple to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Katra, causing it to veer off the road and fall into a deep gorge near the Teryath village of the Poni area on Sunday.
The bus was ferrying pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi. Nine people died and several others injured in the incident.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is already assisting the local police in the probe as Lashkar-e-Taiba’s proxy - The Resistance Front (TRF) initially claimed responsibility for the attack.
Source: Will continue to accelerate, strengthen security initiatives: Amit Shah