As of now, Azad couldn't be in the BJP leadership's calculus. The BJP has been trying to drill into the J&K electorate that this time around the UT would most certainly have a Hindu chief minister, explains Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
The Congress has not released a poll manifesto but a declaration of appeasement.
The four ministers -- Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Charanjit Singh Channi -- and around two dozen legislators met in Chandigarh at the residence of Bajwa on Tuesday.
Earlier, Union Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma called Kashmir the pride of the nation and appealed to all stakeholders to invest in the tourism sector in the state.
Dikshit, 81, passed away on Saturday afternoon at the Fortis Escorts Heart Institute in New Delhi due to cardiac arrest.
The Bharatiya Janata Party termed Mufti's temple visit a "political gimmick."
Some residents of village Nizampur claimed that the man disrespected the Nishan Sahib and tried to run away but was caught after a chase.
Pushing for partial lifting of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday asked all stake holders concerned to shed their rigidity to help take a decision based on the ground situation and for the benefit of people of the state.
As a group of Bharatiya Janata Party workers chanted 'Jai Shri Ram' and raised 'Modi, Modi' slogans in front of Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra bus in Nagaon, the Congress leader waved, gave flying kisses and stepped down to meet them.
Life in most parts of Kashmir started limping back to normalcy after remaining paralysed for five days due to strikes and protests.
Fresh snowfall disrupted normal life in Jammu and Kashmir, where an avalanche warning was issued in five districts, higher reaches and tribal areas of Himachal Pradesh and the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand on Monday.
Mufti said that whatever decision the PM takes, the country will support him.
While the leadership of the biggest Opposition party, the Congress, has not reacted, even non-Congress and (now) anti-BJP parties like the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) have voiced no view on Banerjee's appeal, reports Aditi Phadnis.
Mehbooba Mufti said that incidents like the ones at Handwara and Nathnusa are "unacceptable" and come as a major setback to the efforts of the state government in consolidating peace dividends in the state.
Fresh snowfall was recorded in the higher reaches of Kashmir overnight while the plains received rains, even as the mercury stayed above the freezing point at most places.
Apart from Urmila Matondkar, the names of Marathi actor and Shiv Sena leader Aadesh Bandekar, singer Anand Shinde, BJP-turned-NCP leader Eknath Khadse, farmer leader Raju Shetti are also doing rounds.
A police complaint has been lodged at Barakhamba police station in Delhi, against 26 Opposition parties "for improper use of the name of INDIA and use of the said name for the undue influence and personation at elections."
'When those who took oath in the name of the Indian Constitution are not acceptable, where do the other Kashmiris stand?'
Addressing Uddhav Thackeray, Ranaut later posted a video message saying his "ego will be destroyed" the way her Bandra home was demolished.
Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti and Jammu and Kashmir Police engaged in a Twitter spat on Wednesday after she claimed that she was placed under house arrest to prevent her from visiting an area in north Kashmir.
The arrests were made from different districts of Tripura by teams of Assam police's special task force, he said.
Heading a PDP-BJP government formed with an alliance between two ideological extremes, Mehbooba faces a challenging task ahead as she will strive to carry forward her father's 'healing touch' legacy.
The cases reported on Wednesday include a couple and their two-year-old daughter in Rajasthan who had recently returned from Italy. The patients belong to Rajasthan's Jhunjhunu and had returned from Italy on March 8.
If the concerns over risking political capital are overcome, the long-term gains for the Indian economy will be immense, asserts A K Bhattacharya.
Had an inquiry been done, the then home minister (Rajnath Singh) would have to resign. Many officers would have been jailed and there would have been a huge controversy, Malik said.
The two leaders discussed steps needed to bring peace back to the Valley, where student protests against police actions have been gaining ground in recent days.
Claiming taxes collected from the south were being distributed to north India and that the former were not getting their due share, Congress MP D K Suresh on Thursday said the southern states will be forced to demand for a separate nation if the 'injustice' was not rectified.
Kanugolu had also made forays in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh following a directive from the party's central leadership but regional satraps Ashok Gehlot and Kamal Nath reportedly were not on the same page as the poll strategist.
Ten days after Hizbul Mujahideen leader Burhan Wani was eliminated by the armed forces, Kashmir continues to see massive unrest, with the violence claiming over 40 lives.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is hopeful that the issue will come handy to its efforts to gain political traction in Dravidian state as it gears up for the Lok Sabha polls.
However, the Army, in a statement, said since Singh's cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot injury, no guard of honour or military funeral was provided, in accordance with the existing policy.
The former Congress president alleged that PM Modi had a "monopoly over corruption".
Questioning Pakistan's stand on Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Friday asked whether the militant attack on the BSF convoy in Bijbehara was the way to show its love for the people.
The alliance leaders are getting together for the third round of the brainstorming session in Mumbai, after Patna and Bengaluru, to chalk out their common campaign strategy to take on the NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
A rotating chief ministership as a way to appease factions can work only if there is a credible guarantor, explains Aditi Phadnis.
The chief minister further informed that an FIR has been registered following the incident and a probe has been ordered to nab the culprits.
'It is very unfortunate that the AAP seems to be looking at the issue through the prism of rivalry with Congress in Delhi and Punjab'
Kumar's comment comes days after a section of JD-U leaders in Uttar Pradesh announced that they would join the Congress' 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' in the state.
Those who believe in Kashmiriyat, insaniyat and jamhooriyat are welcome to talk, he said.
Twenty-nine of the 30 incumbent chief ministers are crorepatis with Andhra Pradesh's Jagan Mohan Reddy having the highest assets totalling Rs 510 crore, according to poll affidavits analysed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
