The fifth and last phase of the state assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir ended on Saturday with a turnout of 76 per cent.
Abdullah said they are claiming that terrorism is over but the ground situation shows that it has increased in otherwise peaceful Jammu region.
'When the Executive can do whatever they want, why bother having an election?'
The third and final phase of the three phase Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections will be held on Tuesday, October 1, 2024.
'I don't want what happened to me should happen to anyone else,' says Shagun Parihar, the BJP candidate from Kishtwar whose father and uncle were killed by terrorists.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Nagrota MLA Devender Singh Rana, brother of Union minister Jitendra Singh, died on Thursday at a private hospital in Haryana's Faridabad. He was 59.
'The terrorists are using better technology to secure their communication.' 'It does appear that excessive reliance on technology led to a weakening of human intelligence.'
For the last four years since abrogation of Article 370, Kashmir-based political parties have been struggling to forge an alternate narrative to the one forcibly snatched from them. The BJP is bound to go hammer and tongs at them now that their armoury is reinforced with the Supreme Court judgment, notes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs.
She defeated her nearest rival, Hilal Ahmad Shah of the Congress party by 12,085 votes. Mehbooba polled 17,701 votes.
The change in Anantnag's demographic after delimitation has added layers of political complexities to the constituency with Pahari-Gujjar, Jammu versus Kashmir dimensions.
In a significant administrative reshuffle, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha ordered the transfer and posting of 48 J-K Administrative Service (JKAS) officers, potentially creating friction with the National Conference-led government in the Union Territory. The move, seen by many as an attempt by the LG to assert control over the bureaucracy, includes the transfer of 14 additional deputy commissioners and 26 sub-divisional magistrates. The timing of the order, coinciding with the elected government's wait for approval on business rules, raises concerns over power dynamics in the region.
The first phase of the three phase Jammu and Kashmir elections will be held on Wednesday, September 18, 2024.
The strong statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah's office came after former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah asked bureaucrats in the Union Territory to resist any pressure to "further disempower" the incoming elected government.
The BJP has emerged the second largest party by winning 29 constituencies in the maiden assembly polls post abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, improving its all-time high tally of 25 seats recorded in 2014 elections.
Will Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, who gets his orders from New Delhi, call the shots or allow a democratically elected government to independently govern, questions Ramesh Menon.
'If, as happened in Baramulla during the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the youth in the Valley get triggered enough to jump into the wider fray, the end result would be difficult to predict, especially as the state's post-August 5, 2019 political format remains substantially fragmented and foggy,' points out Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs.
A voter turnout of 69.69 percent was recorded in the third and final phase of voting Tuesday in the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the Election Commission said.
The value of the vote of a member of Parliament has gone down to 700 from 708 in the presidential poll scheduled for July 18 due to the absence of a legislative assembly in Jammu and Kashmir.
A turnout of about 59 percent -- the highest in the past seven elections -- was recorded in the first phase of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, Chief Electoral Officer P K Pole said, adding polling passed off peacefully.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party emerging as potential kingmaker in Jammu and Kashmir, party chief Amit Shah on Tuesday did not rule out joining hands with either the People's Democratic Party or the National Conference saying "all options are open".
'This fight was against the strongest oppressive forces in the country. And Vinesh emerged victorious.'
'The lack of opportunities here remains the biggest worry.' 'We have seen investment summits, but if you look around, much of it is only on paper and not on the ground.'
Mufti resigned from the post of the chief minister on June 19, 2018 after alliance partner BJP withdrew support to her coalition government.
Those familiar with intricate Kashmir politics do not rule out further delay in the assembly elections. Primarily, because the BJP having 'invested' so much for so long in Kashmir would try its best to wait a little longer if only to secure the 'gains' it believes to have achieved after its deafening action on August 5, 2019, points out Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs.
He also assured people of J&K that they will get opportunity to elect their representatives in a transparent way.
'We want to ensure that no government in J&K will be formed without our support.'
'This verdict means that if there is presidential rule anywhere in any state of India, that state can be dismembered and from a state can be downgraded to a Union territory.'
The dastardly dimensions of the attack are gradually sinking in even as the Government of India announced its immediate diplomatic and other retaliatory measures. It is generally expected to be followed up with punitive military action across the LoC, sooner than later, observes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
'The Galwan clash in 2020 resulted in a large number of troops being moved from J&K to Eastern Ladakh which caused a thinning of deployment in the Jammu area.'
'The jungles of Doda covers about 250 km.' 'Sleeper cells are providing active help to the terrorists.' 'The terrain and situation is such that it is not possible to keep track of every inch.'
Once a trusted lieutenant of the former National Conference president Omar Abdullah and his political advisor during his tenure as chief minister, Rana holds considerable sway among Muslims, particularly the Gujjar community in Jammu.
Karra, who became the J&K Congress chief last Friday replacing Vikar Rasool Wani, said a call is already there for all secular parties who are opposed to the "hegemonic attitude" of the BJP to unite.
Barely a week before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to launch the Bharatiya Janata Party's election campaign in Jammu and Kashmir, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Monday sought to downplay the Sangh Parivar's long-standing demand repealing Article 370 of the Constitution.
'INDIA will easily cross 50 seats out of 90 in Jammu and Kashmir.'
A gazette notification was issued after the panel, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, signed the final order giving Jammu six additional seats and one more to Kashmir.
Iltija said the PDP suffered defeat and could manage only three seats in the valley because there was an "assault" on the party.
The results of the assembly elections will be announced on October 8.
'Nehru's hegemonic politics has been responsible for many ills, which undoubtedly includes Kashmir'
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.
'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.
