Ghulam Nabi Azad remarked that the figures are not high enough to know whether the people are happy or angry with the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories, Mehbooba Mufti said it is a message that the people have not accepted the Centre's decisions.
Scenes from the election campaign in New Delhi, Mainpuri, Bardhaman, Srinagar, Etah, Mumbai and Puri.
Omar Abdullah will have to negotiate at every step with the lieutenant governor's office and the Modi government at the Centre.
A court in New Delhi on Tuesday granted two-hour custody parole to Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdul Rashid to take oath as a Lok Sabha MP on July 5.
Engineer Rashid has been lodged in the Tihar jail since August 9, 2019 on charges of alleged terror financing, while Singh has been booked under the National Security Act and sent to the Dibrugarh jail of Assam.
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.
The Delhi High Court has reserved its order on a plea by jailed MP Rashid Engineer, facing trial in a terror funding case, seeking custody parole to attend the ongoing Parliament session. Engineer, a Baramulla MP, was opposed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) who argued that he has no vested right to attend Parliament and there were security concerns. The court said though there might not be a vested right to attend the session, it could exercise its discretion. The NIA also argued that Rashid misused the telephone facility in Tihar jail and that allowing him to attend the session would be a security risk.
The male-female turnout gap was wide in Bihar and Jharkhand. While in Bihar, the male turnout was 52.42 percent, the female turnout was 61.58 percent.
The Congress and the National Conference on Monday announced they will fight the Lok Sabha polls in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, in alliance, with both parties contesting three seats each.
National Conference President Dr Farooq Abdullah, his only son Omar Abdullah and Omar's sons Zamir Abdullah and Zahir Abdullah (both first time voters) cast their votes in Srinagar on Monday, May 13, 2024.
Besides Defence Minister Singh (Lucknow), Minister of Women and Child Development Irani (Amethi), those in the fray are Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishor (Mohanlalganj) and Minister of State of Consumer Affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Fatehpur).
"Last time I stood, I was not allowed to speak. The ruling party paid a very heavy price for throttling the voice of one MP," she said, referring to her suspension in the last session.
There is a limit to ignoring genuine aspirations of the people and suppressing their legitimate voice in running the affairs of the state, notes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
Terrorists struck at two places in Kashmir on Saturday night, killing a former sarpanch in Shopian and injuring a tourist couple from Rajasthan in Anantnag, two days ahead of Lok Sabha elections in Baramulla.
It's just not a date. It's just not about selecting a candidate. It's not about helping some candidate win. It's about expressing emotion, after ten years, that could reach out in India and beyond it, notes Sheela Bhatt.
'With all outlets of public expression virtually choked for the last five years, suppressed anger and frustration is looking for an opening via the ballot box.' 'There is no escape from the inevitability of the 'Engineer Rashid' factor surfacing in a big enough way to upset everyone's applecart,' alerts Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs.
'I am happy that the people of north Kashmir burst the bubble of Modi's naya' Kashmir'
The National Conference is a part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) and will continue to be, party leader Omar Abdullah clarified on Thursday and said it is in talks with the Congress for an arrangement in three of the six Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
'I have faced 18 hours of darkness daily all my life.'
'There is no link between Article 370 abrogation and a rise in voting percentage.'
Over 2.5 million voters will decide the fate of 239 candidates in the fray for 26 Jammu and Kashmir assembly seats in the second phase of the election to be held in the Union territory on Wednesday.
With 19 border polling stations along the Line of Control in Rajouri and Poonch, a contingency plan has been worked out to deal with cross-border shelling though chances are negligible given the ongoing ceasefire between India and Pakistan that came into effect in February 2021, officials said.
Political parties and leaders wait with bated breath for the Haryana and Jammu-Kashmir assembly poll results on Tuesday.
Director general of police Swain commended the security forces for their efforts in monitoring potential threats from external elements particularly "proxies of Pakistan" who intended to disrupt the democratic process.
'PM Modi would have swept the elections in Kashmir after notebandi but then he scrapped Article 370 so all his good work went down the drain.'
'Who are Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti to issue certificates?'
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.
'INDIA will easily cross 50 seats out of 90 in Jammu and Kashmir.'
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.
'Everyone is unhappy with the lieutenant governor's administration, which is ignorant, high-handed, and inaccessible.'
Lashing out at Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, Rashid on Wednesday alleged that they have "destroyed" Kashmir.
'I went to jail and met my father to convince him to join politics and believe in the Constitution.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said his government has made a "solemn promise" for restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's statehood and will stand by it, adding the Centre was working very hard to create the right conditions.
'If the country felt very strongly about the BJP, then why did the country not put money where the mouth is?'
'The whole Kashmiri population is seemed to be a suspect community. This status is not good.'
It has met 20 such delegations and members of the public from Ramban, Rajouri, Poonch, Kishtwar, Kathua and Doda districts.
In his maiden rally in Kashmir Valley after quitting the Congress last month, he said only a government with a two-thirds majority in Parliament can ensure the restoration of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
Curfew remained in force on Thursday in parts of Kashmir valley as a preventive measure to maintain law and order after a youth was killed when security forces allegedly opened fire to chase away stone-pelting protesters.
Please promise, especially those millions who trust you with their hard-earned money, never to let your voting preferences determine your actions on the markets. The most appalling and scary phenomenon was fund houses and brokerages going out on election yatras and writing copious reports promising more than 300 for the BJP. That was your wish as voters. Your investors are paying for it now, points out Shekhar Gupta.
The voluminous report has proposed redrawing of the Anantnag Parliamentary seat by including Rajouri and Poonch from the Jammu region, besides carrying out massive changes in the Kashmir division, they said.
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