More than 40 per cent of the 908 candidates contesting the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are Independents, leading to claims that a large number of them have been propped up by the Bharatiya Janata Party to divide votes.
On Tuesday, July 16, 2024, four army personnel, including a captain, died after being injured in a gunfight with heavily armed terrorists in Doda district in Jammu and Kashmir.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Wednesday said the fresh revision of electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir does not disturb the schedule or conduct part of polls and the poll panel is aware that there is a "vacuum" in the Union territory which needs to be filled.
Pressure is mounting for a resolution to be moved in the assembly when it meets next week for its maiden sitting to demand 'restoration of Article 370 and Article 35A' as committed in the National Conference's election manifesto, reveals Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
'Ladakh too is politically paralysed and in limbo, as Rafale jets roar above Leh and Israeli arms dealers prowl the town.'
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.
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.
According to intelligence reports, the terrorists entered the Akhnoor region through the Battal area, and a wireless set seized from them confirmed their association with the JeM.
Officials said one more terrorist is believed to be trapped in the operation area at Khandara top and efforts are on to neutralize him.
The tribunal was constituted on March 18 for the purpose of adjudicating whether or not there was sufficient cause for declaring the MCJK-Bhat an unlawful association.
What was the aim of Operation Sindoor? Why was the operation halted so soon? asks Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Taking advantage of bad weather marked by incessant rainfall and poor visibility, a group of armed terrorists attempted to infiltrate across the LoC, he said.
Authorities in Kashmir have launched a massive crackdown on terrorists and their sympathisers in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, razing homes of the ultras, raiding their safe havens and detaining hundreds of overground workers for questioning, officials said on Saturday.
'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.
No one told them what had happened until late at night. And then too, it came through the media, the family said.
The terrorists opened fire on the camp housing labourers of a private company working on construction of a tunnel Gund area in the district, officials said.
The Opposition party also attacked Azad, saying "Mr. GNA himself gives new evidence of his DNA mutation by saying 'those opposing Article 370 abrogation ignorant of the situation on the ground'."
The withdrawal of the candidature by DPAP leaders on the last day on August 30 is seen as a boost to the NC-Congress alliance.
"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.
Dubey visited the party headquarters at Trikuta Nagar in Jammu this evening and posed with Sharma and other senior leaders of the party, which the BJP termed as a move to show the "unity and the strength of the organisation".
While Jamaat cannot take part in the elections due to the ban imposed on it by the Union home ministry, it had shown interest in participating in the polls during the Lok Sabha elections if the ban were removed.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that two more constituents of the Jammu and Kashmir-based Hurriyat Conference, J&K Tahreeqi Isteqlal and J&K Tahreek-I-Istiqamat, have abandoned separatism and pledged allegiance to the new India envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This development follows similar declarations from the Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement (JKPM) and the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Political Movement (JKDPM) on Tuesday. Shah stated that under Modi's leadership, separatism is on the decline and the unity of India is growing stronger in Kashmir.
In his first visit to the valley after becoming the prime minister for the third consecutive term, Modi emphasised the importance of enabling the people of Jammu and Kashmir to elect their representatives for the assembly.
'The Indian embassy did send a bus to evacuate us along with an Indian embassy official, but Urmia University is not giving us permission to leave.'
Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held in three phases from September 18 while Haryana will go to polls in a single phase on October 1, the Election Commission announced on Friday.
They said the terrorists opened fire on the vehicle at Botapathri near Nagin post.
Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina, seeking re-election from Nowshera assembly constituency of Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir, is facing a major challenge from his former party colleague Surinder Choudhary.
In an attempt to revive tourism in Kashmir after it was severely affected after the Pahalgam terror attack, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah met prominent tour and travel operators from Maharashtra and Gujarat at a Pahalgam hotel on Tuesday, May 27, 2025.
Reliance on technical intelligence has not been fruitful as terrorists use online activity to mislead authorities. Officials feel that there is an urgent need for heightened surveillance to counter foreign terrorists, especially in the Jammu region.
Patel was handed over to the Gujarat police late Thursday afternoon after its request for his custody was granted by the court of the chief judicial magistrate in Srinagar, an official said.
The third and final phase of the three phase Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections will be held on Tuesday, October 1, 2024.
With the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) scheduled to meet Tuesday, intra-party consultations in Jammu and Kashmir continued for a second day Monday to discuss the Centre's invitation for an all-party meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 24.
Head constable Bashir Ahmad laid down his life and two officers -- a DSP and an assistant sub-inspector -- were injured in the encounter, he said, adding both the officers are stable.
India stressed that it is even more extraordinary for a country with a history of rigged elections to talk about political choices, that too in a democracy.
Congress leaders P Chidambaram and Abhishek Singhvi said the judgement of the Supreme Court in cases concerning the abrogation of Article 370 has decided many issues but has left some.
The second phase of the three phase Jammu and Kashmir elections will be held on Wednesday, September 25, 2024.
He said that the army has tried to neutralise foreign terrorists along the Line of Control in Rajouri and Poonch.
Shah briefed the prime minister on the attack and discussed the measures to be taken in its aftermath.
It said a "sudden rise" in terrorist-financing investigations was seen in 2023 and this was attributed to events arising out of incidents in Manipur that led to such probes in more than 50 cases.
Jammu and Kashmir is likely to get around 25 lakh additional voters including outsiders after the special summary revision of electoral rolls being held for the first time after the abrogation of Article 370, an official said on Wednesday.
