The Delhi high court reserved its judgement on a plea challenging the constitutional validity of Article 370 of the Constitution that gives special status to J&K.
The PDP is the front-runner in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls. The ruling National Conference and the Congress will be lucky to reach double figures.
"The situation has become irretrievable", Azad, 73, said in his parting shot to Sonia Gandhi, whose trusted confidante he remained right from the time of Sitaram Kesri's unceremonious exit as the party's chief in 2000.
The Ladakh-based innovator had announced a five-day long hunger strike at 18,380 feet high Khardung La from January 26 to invite attention of the BJP-led Centre to the demands of the people of Ladakh.
Malik said that as per the state Constitution he did not have to take permission from the president or Parliament.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has launched an ambitious plan to reach out to at least 10,000 key opinion makers -- jurists, bureaucrats, etc -- in the next two years to dispel "misinformation" related to Article 370 of the Constitution.
Expelled BJP ideologue Prof Hari Om speaks to Pervez Majeed.
The transmogrification of Prime Minister Modi to Saint Modi began with the ground-breaking ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. By identifying himself with Lord Ram, Modi raised himself in popular imagination to a saintly person.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah is taking over as the president of the ruling National Conference this week.Dr Abdullah, who won the state assembly polls from two constituencies, will replace his son and J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah as the party's president.National Conference, which emerged as a single largest party in the state assembly elections, is ruling the state in coalition with the Congress.
At the moment, there appears to be no alternative political narrative to the one lying buried under the debris of havoc caused on this front by the fallout of 'August 5, 2019', asserts Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
India on Monday hit out at Pakistan for making an "unwarranted" reference to Jammu and Kashmir at the United Nations, asserting that the state was an integral part of the country.
A fascinating excerpt from Arghya Sengupta, Jinaly Dani, Kevin James, and Pranay Modi's Hamn Ast: A Biography of Article 370.Instead came a recommendation from Parliament, acting under the imposition of President's Rule, purporting to convey the views of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. This clever act achieved Parliament's purpose optimally. But was it legitimate in law?
Ignoring the boycott call by separatist groups and braving cold weather, nearly 70 per cent polling was on Tuesday, in most of the 15 constituencies going to polls in first of the five-phased polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
Jammu and Kashmir registered its highest turn-out in assembly elections in the last 25 years with an estimated 65 per cent of voters casting their votes, as the fifth and final phase of polling ended on Saturday. Jharkhand, which also went to the polls along with J&K, broke all previous polling records to witness over 66 per cent of turn-out in the five phases, bettering the previous mark of 54.2 per cent in the 2004 assembly poll.
Where do the big guns stand as counting underway for the Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand elections?
The Election Commission is contemplating holding the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections in the month of November and then go for the Assembly elections in five other states after a gap of 10 to 15 days.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday issued notices to its seven members of legislative assembly, disqualifying them for cross-voting in Legislative Council polls on April 13.
The political script for pre-2019 politics has gone with the wind and the writers of the new script seem in no great hurry to oblige the tormented, observes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
In December last year, the Centre had decided to construct community bunkers along International Border and Line of Control for being used during shelling and firing by Pak.
'The current government must act sooner rather than later,' asserts Vivek Gumaste.
Masoodi said all the participants are against giving voting rights to non-locals as "it will be tantamount to the disenfranchisement of the local voters."
'If two regional parties in Jammu and Kashmir find common ground to rule the state, they would have given a more stable and efficient government.' 'This was a good possibility of restoring peace in Kashmir.' 'If you really wanted to give peace a chance, we should have allowed them to form a government.'
Celebrations broke out outside the Rajasthan BJP headquarters in Jaipur and the party workers burst firecrackers and distributed sweets as Murmu emerged victorious in the presidential poll.
The results of the by-elections in the four Assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir were a mixed bag for the Congress' coalition partners.
'All the benefits of democracy will flow to Kashmir now. This has not happened in the last 70 years.'
"If Congress fails to fulfill the promise made to the Jammu constituency on change of power and install a Jammu chief minister, we will face rout in next assembly elections," the MLAs said.
EC said as per the Supreme Court, the outer limit for holding fresh polls after dissolution of a house is six months, that is May, 2019.
India also called for immediate resolution of the matter and ensure invitation to the J&K Speaker, saying otherwise India will boycott the annual conference in Islamabad.
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.
"An elaborate plan has been made at headquarters of Air officer commanding Jammu and Kashmir for the seven phases of elections starting from November 17 to December 24," IAF Nodal officer for elections Wing commander Hari Krishan said.
Life in Kashmir Valley came to a grinding halt on Monday due to a bandh called by separatists to protest the Election Commission's move to decide the date for assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.Shops and other business establishments, educational and semi-government institutions remained closed, while attendance in government offices was thin, official sources said.All modes of transport remained off the roads in Srinagar and elsewhere in the Valley.
'There are many things we need to work on.' 'At the heart of it is, one, the extent of inequality, which is not good for democracy and nation; two, a structural decline on how a country ought to function, how people should be held accountable, whose role is what.'
People in Jammu and Kashmir may have rejected the boycott call by separatists by turning out in large numbers to vote in the assembly polls but for many of them the sentiment for "freedom" hasn't died. "People of late have realised that development and resolution of Kashmir problem are two separate issues," said Mohammad Siddique, a retired officer.
The sources said consultations with some of the ministries have been undertaken and the state may soon witness the end of governor's rule.
Barring the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections, the Election Commission is gearing up to announce the dates for elections in five other states of Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Mizoram in the first week of October. Counting will be completed and results announced in these states by December 5 as per a tentative calendar drawn up by the commission.
'The ideal thing that should be done in Kashmir is call for an election -- before the end of the year.'
The protesters first assembled at the Sheikhpora area of Budgam district, in central Kashmir, and then tried to proceed towards the airport but were stopped by a posse of police personnel, they said.
'J&K continues to have the highest concentration of military personnel anywhere in the world and the alienation of the Kashmiri has increased in the last ten years than ever before.'
Army sources informed that the banned ULFA used to procure sophisticated arms from an assembling unit at Chrachandpur district in Manipur run by Kuki Revolutionary Army.
"Here I would like to say very frankly, we owe a lot to the militant organisations who did not use the gun because in case they had used the gun, we would have been in trouble. I think Pakistan did put pressure on them that they should not do anything to affect the elections," he told media persons in New Delhi.
