Among the BJP rebels, a notable figure is Gopal Shetty, a two-time MLA and former Lok Sabha member from Mumbai. He has filed his nomination as an independent candidate against the party's official nominee, Sanjay Upadhyay, in Mumbai's Borivali assembly constituency.
The National Conference and rival Peoples Democratic Party were on Friday locked in a blame game over Jammu and Kashmir being brought under Governor's rule following the prolonged stalemate over formation of a government in the state.
Even as parleys continue in both states, the grand old party is expected to contest less than 110 seats in the November 20 polls for the 288-member Maharashtra assembly.
Of 25 results that have been actually declared, the NC bagged 12 seats and is projected to win another 18 seats in a house of 87 members. With no party getting the required the 44 seats for a majority, the Congress will play the 'kingmaker'. Congress has already won four seats and is ahead in 11 other seats.
The ruling National Conference demanded a public apology from opposition Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti over her party's controversial map showing parts of Jammu and Kashmir in China.
The National Conference, which has two members in the Lok Sabha, on Monday authorised its president Omar Abdullah to take a final decision in favour or against the Indo-US nuclear deal.
"This fight is against the hatred that the BJP and RSS are spreading throughout the country. They have tried to create conflicts between Hindus and Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs, and Hindus and Christians just to hold onto power. But they are failing and their strategy is not working," he said.
A total of 78 Muslims were in the fray in the Lok Sabha elections this year, a significant drop from the last polls when 115 Muslim candidates were fielded by various parties.
The Opposition INDIA bloc on Friday finalised a 14-member coordination-cum-election strategy committee comprising members of various parties, and it will function as the alliance's highest decision-making body and start work on seat-sharing immediately, sources said.
The Congress on Tuesday said it cannot accept the Haryana assembly polls verdict as there were 'serious issues' about the integrity of the counting process and functioning of the EVMs in some districts, and asserted that it would take up the matter with the Election Commission.
Abdullah, who put out multiple posts, also apologised to the people of J-K and Ladakh. "Disappointed but not disheartened. The struggle will continue," he said.
'The wave of terrorism is over in Kashmir. Local people do not support it.'
With the results of the Jammu & Kashmir assembly elections out, hectic lobbying among the political parties has started, with a visible sign of the People's Democratic Party and the Congress warming-up to form the government.
The suspension of four National Conference members had prompted the opposition leaders to boycott the ongoing session of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly.
The former chief minister said his party was not running away from polls, but wanted the Centre to do justice with the people of Jammu and Kashmir first and take effective steps for the protection of the state's special position.
Once people throw out the Congress, they do not let it come back. They put 'no entry' boards for the Congress, he said. It always thought power was its birthright but it has now been exposed, the prime minister said
Projecting BJP as a fresh option in Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said Congress "sneaks" into every government that is formed in the state but attacks these dispensations just before elections.
'We put the seed of BJP's ideology in Jammu, watered it, nurtured it for four decades and when it was time to reap the fruits of those efforts, the fruits are being sold out to the very same people who worked hard to uproot this tree.' 'Shockingly, our own people are letting this happen and nobody from Delhi bothers to even listen to us.'
After multiple attacks in Kashmir Valley, a ruling National Conference leader on Tuesday night kicked up a controversy alleging that army may have had a hand but later sought to defuse the row saying he has not accused any security agency of involvement.
Mehbooba Mufti said she will not contest the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, pointing out that she would not be able to fulfil her party's agenda in the union territory set up even if she were to become the chief minister.
An unidentified militant shot and critically wounded a prominent member of the National Conference in south Kashmir's Tral town on Friday afternoon. "The militant fired pistol rounds from a close range at Abdul Salam Bhat, the block president of NC, at Tral market on Friday afternoon," a senior police officer said. "Bhat was immediately taken to the hospital for treatment. A search to find the militant is going on in the area," he said.
So far 14 Kashmiri Pandits have filed nominations to contest from the valley for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections, aiming to ensure the return and rehabilitation of their fellow community members, whose number run up to 3 lakh.
Convert the Haryana result into a blessing in disguise; make the calamity into an opportunity. Maharashtra was always the big ticket game in town; MVA must win it. The Congress should shift headquarters to Mumbai for the entire month. Show urgency and a hunger to win, asserts Sanjay Jha.
Militants on Friday evening shot at and killed an activist of the ruling National Conference in the Hajin town of north Kashmir's Bandipore district.
Militants shot at and wounded an activist of the ruling National Conference in Koil village of south Kashmir's Pulwama district on Saturday evening.
After the Congress' shock defeat in Haryana, the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties flexed their muscles on Wednesday, accusing the grand old party of ignoring them.
In a new political twist in Jammu and Kashmir, National Conference on Tuesday formally offered support to the People's Democratic Party in a letter to Governor N N Vohra for forming a government that could break the logjam of over three weeks.
As controversy raged over Yati Narsinghanand's objectionable remarks against Prophet Muhammad, his supporters on Sunday alleged that the Dasna temple head priest is being illegally kept in detention by police, which denied the claim.
Two explosions during and before ruling National Conference poll rallies in Srinagar and central Kashmir's Budgam districts left 13 persons injured on Sunday.
Tral, the former hotbed of terrorism, rocks to the music of democracy.
'We want to ensure that no government in J&K will be formed without our support.'
The chief spokesman of the NC, Dr Mustaffa Kamal who is also the uncle of the state chief minister, Omar Abdullah had on Tuesday said that 'Delhi was hurling grenades in Kashmir'.
'Article 370 is now dug 70 feet deep in the ground. It cannot come out.'
'I want to ask the Congress only one question: What is more important than election management in politics?'
Fearing that the alleged custodial death of NC worker Syed Mohammad Yousuf was being "hushed up", son of the deceased leader has moved a petition in a court in Srinagar seeking Central Bureau of Investigation probe.
Those familiar with intricate Kashmir politics do not rule out further delay in the assembly elections. Primarily, because the BJP having 'invested' so much for so long in Kashmir would try its best to wait a little longer if only to secure the 'gains' it believes to have achieved after its deafening action on August 5, 2019, points out Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs.
The party has bagged 34 seats so far, an official spokesman said in Srinagar on Wednesday.
If Rashid cannot be the king, he could be the kingmaker after October 8 when the results to the J&K assembly are declared.
Every trick in the trade is being tried unabashedly.
In simple arithmetical terms every possible 'arrangement' is being made to deny a majority to its rivals. A split verdict would hand a vital advantage to the BJP which is adept at extracting the best out of such a situation, notes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
