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.
Militants on Wednesday had caused four blasts in different parts of Baramulla and Anantnag districts, killing two civilians and wounding 48.
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.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the decision to transform Jammu and Kashmir into a Union Territory is 'temporary' and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government will restore the statehood to the region.
Over 60 per cent voter turnout was recorded on Monday in 49 constituencies in six states and two Union territories in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections, with Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir recording its highest-ever voting percentage.
With two phases of voting already completed, political parties are busy with filing nominations, addressing roadshows and undertaking hectic campaigns for the constituencies that will vote this month.
This was the first encounter between terrorists and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir in more than three months.
They said women electors and first-time voters have registered a significant increase.
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.
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.
On October 31, Head Constable Ghulam Mohammad Dar of Jammu and Kashmir police was shot at by the terrorists outside his residence at Kralpora in Pattan area of the Baramulla district.
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.
Singh, 31, and Rashid, 56, won the recent Lok Sabha elections from Khadoor Sahib in Punjab and Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir, respectively, as Independents while being incarcerated.
Tourists amaze at the frozen waterfall of Drung near Baramulla. The waterfall has completely frozen due to freezing temperatures.
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.
A firefight ensued after security forces landed a cordon and search operation in the Wanigam Payeen Kreeri area of Baramulla acting on specific intelligence about the presence of terrorists at the location.
This is the third such terrorist attack in as many days in Kashmir valley.
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.
This has also raised concerns over undetected infiltrations from across the Line of Control and terrorists potentially residing in the outskirts of cities and villages, they said.
"Give up arms and come for talks or our forces will hunt you down," the home minister said in election rallies in Jammu and Kashmir.
'We want to ensure that no government in J&K will be formed without our support.'
Jammu and Kashmir Bharatiya Janata Party chief Ravinder Raina is going to miss voting for his party in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as the party has not fielded any candidate from his home town which falls in Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary constituency.
After they met in New Delhi on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, INDIA bloc leaders decided to sit in the Opposition for now...
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.
'Puneet did his research and gave us a very basic idea on male prostitution. He said it is like any other job.'
The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Saturday sacked six government employees, including five policemen, for their 'deep involvement in anti-national activities', officials said.
'The whole Kashmiri population is seemed to be a suspect community. This status is not good.'
'INDIA will easily cross 50 seats out of 90 in Jammu and Kashmir.'
'...or go to jail.' 'The government is getting them silenced.'
'If the country felt very strongly about the BJP, then why did the country not put money where the mouth is?'
The former chief minister said if there was any danger of his losing from Budgam, then his party colleagues would not have allowed him to contest from Budgam.
The Election Commission on Monday said the voter turnout in Jammu and Kashmir this time was the highest in a Lok Sabha election in the last 35 years with the Kashmir Valley witnessing a 'massive' 30 percentage point jump in poll participation compared to 2019.
With a large number of Indian youth aspiring to work in the railways, delays in filling up railway job vacancies were a point of criticism against the BJP in the run-up to the elections.
Political parties and leaders wait with bated breath for the Haryana and Jammu-Kashmir assembly poll results on Tuesday.
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.
"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.
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.
'Everyone is unhappy with the lieutenant governor's administration, which is ignorant, high-handed, and inaccessible.'
Scenes from the election campaign in New Delhi, Mainpuri, Bardhaman, Srinagar, Etah, Mumbai and Puri.
