While a few 'bahubalis' managed wins in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, a majority of them were rejected by the voters. According to the results, many alleged dons-turned-politicians failed to make it to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.
Leaders of the pro-dialogue moderate All Parties Hurriyat Conference including the conglomerate chairman, Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq, were placed under house arrest on Thursday by the authorities in Srinagar to thwart the proposed march and sit-in by them on World Human Rights Day.Almost all the senior separatist leaders of the moderate group, including Mirwaiz himself, professor Abdul Gani Bhat, Shabir Shah, Naeem Ahmad Khan were placed under house arrest.
After the meeting with the Pak PM, separatist leaders admitted that differences persisted.
Fahim Ansari, one of the two Indians involved in the deadly Mumbai attacks, has moved the Mumbai High Court seeking to restrain the Federal Bureau of Investigation from interrogating him.
He was quoted by the BBC as saying that the process should continue.
This is the first meeting between the Hurriyat and an Indian prime minister.
The Hurriyat's meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would be its first with the UPA-led government since it came to power in May last year.
'We want New Delhi and Islamabad to include Kashmiris in the talks while addressing the Kashmir issue,' Hurriyat chairman Mohammad Abbas Ansari said.
The separatist outfit wants to understand the Northern Ireland peace process and determine if it can be applied to the Kashmir problem.
An eighth BJP candidate on Thursday filed his nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, setting the stage for a contest with the Samajwadi Party on February 27.
Facilitating the return of expatriate Kashmiri leaders will also feature in the first meeting between the Centre and All Parties Hurriyat Conference.
Police feared a clash between their supporters in Srinagar.
The outcome of the polls to the Rajya Sabha is likely to have an impact in the politically crucial state just ahead of the general elections in the country.
613 candidates are in the fray on 54 seats, including those falling in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary segment Varanasi.
'Is Ansari flagging a genuine concern? Is a rectification called for?' 'And finally: Do minorities matter?' asks Shekhar Gupta.
Over 56 per cent turnout was recorded on Monday in 54 assembly seats, including in Varanasi, in the seventh and last phase of Uttar Pradesh polls, marking the end of the voting process spread over two months in the crucial state.
Voting for the seventh and final phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections covering 54 seats, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency Varanasi, will be held on Monday to decide the phase of 613 candidates.
Akbar said around 30 members belonging to various constituents of the Geelani's faction have been invited by the Pakistan High Commission. They include Geelani, Ashraf Sehrai, Shabir Shah and Nayeem Khan.
The curtain came down on rumbustious electioneering over the last two months when assembly polls were also held in four other states - Goa, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Manipur.
Union Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh on Monday night said he was asked by the government to represent it at the Pakistan National Day reception at the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi.
India on Monday said there was 'no scope for misunderstanding or misrepresenting' its position
According to poll observers, there are about 3.88 lakh voters in Rampur assembly constituency and of them, about 2.27 lakh, about 60 per cent, are Muslims.
In its third summons, issued last week, the NIA promised him security.
They were all fielded by the Samajwadi Party and its alliance partners.
