Brisk polling was reported in Leh and Kargil districts of Jammu and Kashmir, where the first phase of assembly elections covering a total of 10 constituencies, commenced on Monday morning.As many as 77 votes were polled at the polling station set up in Indoor stadium, Kargil, while 65 votes were cast at higher secondary school, Kargil within minutes.In Leh, polling was going on at a slow pace. Although the polling started at 8 am, voters came out of their homes late.
The sectarian killings by hit-and-run groups have revived and sharpened communal fears among the victims while the Poonch encounter reveals how deep the terrorists have dug in without getting noticed in the porous border area, notes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
The Triple Talaq and RTI bills were passed by Rajya Sabha in the last 10 days after the National Democratic Alliance government got support of a few parties, including the Biju Janata Dal, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the YSR Congress, in Rajya Sabha where the BJP lacked majority.
By changing the nation's name from India to Bharat, would this landmass overnight lose the emotional and cultural linkage that had been built over generations, centuries and millennia, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
Mufti's political graph shows his fondness for courting unpopular, politically hazardous ventures in pursuit of his ultimate objective to vindicate his leadership. Towards the end of his life, Mufti's public profile had come to assume the dimensions of statesmanship. One reason being his willingness to learn from his experience, says Mohammad Sayeed Malik.
'Jammu and Kashmir is free for any movement and accessible to all including citizens, outsiders, journalists and all others for free movement'
Assembly elections in 288 seats in Maharashtra and 90 seats in Haryana will be held on October 15 and counting will take place on October 19, the Election Commission announced on Friday.
'A couple of Pulwamas will bring the two nations to war and it will be limited to J&K itself.'
'This election was the first opportunity where Kashmiris told the world they do not agree with the Centre's policies and are unhappy about their disempowerment.'
When to hold elections in J&K is not an easy call to take, though there is nothing like a perfect moment. Clearly, the priority has to be to bring down the temperatures in the valley first before embarking on an electoral exercise.
Many Kashmiris termed the removing of that state flag as a "saddest moment for the J&K's history." Umar Ganie/Rediff.com reports from Srinagar.
"Talks are the only option," Mehbooba said. "How long can you have a confrontation?"
'We have been fighting for the last 70 years on the issue of Article 370.'
If Mehbooba is 'allowed' to survive unchecked she could transform her campaign into a sentiment typically suited to the ground conditions in Kashmir, observes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
Immediately after the attack, people started assembling outside the residence of Parihar and refused entry of senior police officers, who were even manhandled.
For now, the DMK can be expected to sound the bugle for Opposition unity at the national level, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The high table might have yielded relief at personal levels, but its political implications look forbidding at this point in time, observes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
Ghulam Nabi Azad, in his first public meeting in Jammu after quitting Congress, announced to launch his own political outfit that will focus on the restoration of full statehood.
"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.
"India cannot be run on the basis of one religion. And there is more threat from the enemy within. We know about the enemy which is outside," Abdullah said.
Officials said that 100 more companies are expected to be sent to the valley.
'The minorities are determined to prove Modi wrong in 2019, and the only way he can counter their mobilisation against his government is to get a bigger share of the Hindu vote,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen will contest the upcoming Bihar state assembly elections from the Seemanchal region.
Any defeat for the BJP now would imply that anti-incumbency against Modi has set in, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Outgoing Chief Minister Omar Abdullah categorically said on Thursday night that there was "no deal" or any "discussion" going on between his National Conference and the Bharatiya Janata Party over the issue of government formation in Jammu and Kashmir.
'Knowing him personally, I can safely say that the usually soft-spoken, qualified medical doctor would not have said what he was 'caught' saying if only he had realised that he was stepping on a political landmine across the emotional LoC, says Mohammad Sayeed Malik.
Peoples Democratic Party on Tuesday said it is in a "difficult" situation over choosing a post-poll ally as election trends show that it won't be able to form government on its own.
"We are the people, especially in the Kashmir Valley, who upheld the tricolour high over the years at the cost of thousands of our workers who were martyred," Mufti told reporters in Jammu at the end of her five-day visit to Jammu -- her first after release from over one-year-long detention under the Pubic Safety Act (PSA).
Trinamool Congress described it as "Black Monday" and a dark day for the country's constitution, the idea of India, and the Rajya Sabha
Most political parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party, ruling National Conference, People's Democratic Party and Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party are all set to go it alone in the five phased electoral battle for 87 constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir assembly.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the passage of bills as a "momentous occasion" in parliamentary democracy and said a new dawn awaits the people there as they are now free from the "shackles" of vested interest groups.
A number of Congress leaders across the country have gone against the party's stand in Parliament on abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution in Jammu and Kashmir by supporting the Centre's move and a bill to bifurcate the state. The Congress has strongly opposed the move and the bill to bifurcate the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories.
Having focussed excessively on the Congress, and continuously drawing a Modi-Rahul parallel as if it were the sole selling point, the BJP has lost sight of the regional parties that are seeking to take the centre-stage, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Friday said its stance on Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir has not changed, even as it termed as "teething problems" the friction between BJP and PDP in the state stressing that the "novel experiment" should be given time to succeed.
Peoples Democratic Party legislator Mohammad Ashraf Mir, who scored a victory over Omar Abdullah from the Sonawar assembly seat, has stoked a controversy after a video surfaced purportedly showing him firing several rounds from an automatic rifle on the day of the assembly poll results.
A special bench, comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S A Bobde and S A Nazeer, will hear the petitions.
Pakistan has taken too much of a chance with Pulwama - with the wrong government in India, and at the wrong time.
