Abdullah, who turned 50 on March 10, had spent 232 days in custody since the government announced abrogation of the special status of the erstwhile state on August 5 last year.
Peoples Democratic Party veteran Mufti Mohammed Sayeed was sworn-in as chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir heading a coalition with BJP which, in a clear departure from its earlier stand, agreed to maintain status quo on Article 370 in the common agenda for governance.
In the words of a senior PDP leader, the party, in order to continue its alliance with the BJP, only needs 'a long spoon to sup with the devil.'
"Azad saab (Ghulam Nabi Azad) had spoken on behalf of all of us that we don't accept this timeline -- we don't accept delimitation, election, statehood, we want delimitation, statehood and then election. If you want to hold polls, you'll have to restore statehood first," said Omar Abdullah.
The Congress will launch a two-month door-to-door campaign across India from next week to spread Rahul Gandhi's message among the masses, senior leader Jairam Ramesh said on Friday.
Congress leader Saifuddin Soz is presently in an eye of the storm due to his book 'Kashmir: Glimpses of History and the Story of Struggle.' Soz, the former president of Jammu and Kashmir Congress committee, has also been in the National Conference. He was also a minister in the United Progressive Alliance government. PTI-Bhasha spoke to Soz on the issue of breakup of the Bharatiya Janata Party-Peoples Democratic Party alliance in Jammu and Kashmir and the prevailing situation in the Valley.
The former CM of the state also lashed out at the state government saying the Peoples Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party ruling alliance was a failure.
The PDP elected the 56 year old unanimously to succeed her father.
Two of the three youths killed in an encounter with security forces in the Parimpora area of Srinagar were 'radically inclined' and working as overground workers of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba (LeT) terror outfit, police said on Friday and added that the case was being investigated.
Bodies of five of the deceased have been recovered so far, while efforts are on to find the remaining five persons, whose chances of survival are bleak, a police official said in Srinagar.
PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on Saturday appreciated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initiative 'to reach out to Sharif.
'If we accept this, then in a few years we will not see a democratic India that we know'
The party has always advocated abrogation of Article 370 and has also been speaking against Article 35A, but its renewed pitch during elections assumes significance.
On the presence of top leaders of the three other Left parties at the inaugural session, CPI general secretary A B Bardhan admitted: 'We may sometimes have little differences. But we are together on most issues affecting our country and our people. We have to further strengthen and consolidate this Left unity, for that is the only way we can advance to build the Third alternative-the Left and democratic alternative in India."
'Anybody who speaks up, anybody who reports something that the government feels uncomfortable with, or comments on anything could be charged with criminal cases, could be summoned to police stations, slapped around or grilled for several hours. This has become a new norm.'
Private cars have come under stone-pelting at many places as the miscreants want to enforce shutdown.
'It is not something that is going to unfold in the next few weeks or even the next few months.' 'This process will continue for some time. And that's how it should be.' 'If the politicians are coming on board, then that is a welcome step.'
Congress leaders were in for a rude shock on Monday when the media sidelined their much-touted Jawaharlal Nehru birth anniversary event, and instead turned its full attention to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was addressing thousands of supporters in Sydney's Allphones Arena
MPs Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger, Chris Leslie, Angela Smith, Mike Gapes, Gavin Shuker and Ann Coffey held a press conference in London to tell reporters that they would sit as a separate independent group within Britain's Parliament.
Kashmir witnessed a second day of a complete shutdown on Monday as the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing in petitions challenging the validity of Article 35A. The petition in the case has been filed by a Delhi-based NGO, We the Citizens, saying the state's autonomous status granted by Article 35(A) and Article 370 of the Constitution discriminate against fellow citizens from the rest of the country.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday admitted a no-confidence motion moved by Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi against the Narendra Modi government after a head count of over 50 MPs as required under the rules.
Punjab Minister Anmol Gagan Mann on Wednesday said her Aam Aadmi Party will fight on all 13 parliamentary seats in the state.
Congress leader KC Venugopal said the opposition meeting is going to be a game changer for Indian political scenario
Bikash Mohapatra presents a kaleidoscope of views from Jammu and Kashmir, where the five-phase polling for its six seats ended last week.
"Grassroots democracy must get precedence than any other considerations, including security," the functionary said.
Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee along with party leaders and workers sat on a dharna at the Rajghat in New Delhi on Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary on Monday demanding the release of funds for West Bengal by the Centre.
The appointment has raised eye-brows. People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti called it a 'shocking violation' of the spirit of justice and alleged that it will encourage 'rape culture'.
Softening its stand on the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Jammu and Kashmir, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday said that if voted to power, the party will create an atmosphere where such a 'stringent' law would not be required.
All 39 constituents of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Tuesday reposed faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and resolved to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections unitedly under his leadership.
'I've been illegally detained yet again. Since two days, J-K admin has refused to allow me to visit @parawahid's family in Pulwama. BJP Ministers and their puppets are allowed to move around in every corner of Kashmir but security is a problem only in my case,' Mufti tweeted in English and Urdu.
With his swearing-in, the five-decade-long practice of retired bureaucrats being appointed to the post has ended.
Shah said "three families" are answerable to the people for their failure to develop Jammu and Kashmir over the past seven decades.
Rashid was at the Press Club in Delhi on Monday afternoon, when three men set upon him and threw black ink on him.
The first-ever district development council (DDC) elections will be held in eight phases to elect 280 members in 20 districts from November 28 to December 22.
Slamming Narendra Modi over his call for a debate on the special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Union Minister Farooq Abdullah has said that if the Bharatiya Janata Party leader becomes the prime minister even for "ten terms", he will not be able to repeal Article 370 of the Constitution.
Some people expressed apprehension that governor's rule might lead to lack of transparency and worsen the situation in the state
Arch-rivals Left and Trinamool, SP and BSP come together for Sonia's lunch
Where do Vijay and his TVK expect to get their votes from? Vijay has a huge fan following among women, but will they automatically become his voters like they had done for MGR's AIADMK, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
Mehbooba said her party will continue to strive for dialogue and reconciliation in the state.
In its attempt to clinch majority in the 87-member Jammu and Kashmir assembly, Opposition Peoples Democratic Party is trying to make inroads in Jammu by raking up "regional discrimination" and secularism card to woo the Hindu voters of the region.
