60-year-old Mehbooba Mufti had been under preventive detention since August 5 last year, when the Centre announced abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution granting a special status and bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two union territories -- Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir.
Top opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday agreed to work together to prepare a common minimum programme.
Nearly 4,800 elected MPs and MLAs will vote on Monday to elect the 15th President of India, with National Democratic Alliance candidate Droupadi Murmu having a clear edge over Opposition's Yashwant Sinha as over 60 per cent votes are expected to be cast in her favour.
Drama heightened on Friday when the army said that Pakistan-based terrorists are planning to target the ongoing Amarnath Yatra followed by the Jammu and Kashmir administration issuing an advisory, asking the yatris and tourists to "curtail" their stay in the Valley and leave immediately.
Shah admitted that the BJP may have suffered because of the statements made by some party leaders in the Delhi polls.
The eight-phase DDC polls, which began on November 28, is also the first election after Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 was revoked last year and it was reorganised into a Union Territory.
With the National Conference drawing a blank in the Lok Sabha elections, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday sought to know the reasons from the people of the state for the rejection of NC candidates, including party president Farooq Abdullah.
Blaming Jammu and Kashmir's political dynasties for the state's backwardness and corruption, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said the time has come when the people themselves have decided to teach these families and their parties a lesson.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had to intervene to control a "big fight" in Union Cabinet meeting between Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday, over serious differences on Assam and Jammu-Kashmir getting extra grants from the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.
Only three per cent of women candidates have been allotted tickets in Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls.
The district administration has also ordered closure of all colleges and higher secondary schools in Srinagar for Monday.
Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Dr Farooq Abullah has defended his son and National Conference chief Omar Abullah's controversial statement on the Amarnath land row -- during the trust vote on July 22. The Jammu and Kashmir government had revoked its order to allot forest land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board after violent protests against the decision brought life to a standstill in the valley.The Army was called in today and curfew was imposed.
'It will be a long time before we will see the likes of Vajpayee again.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday hit out at its rival parties in Jammu and Kashmir, saying their stand on a number of issues, including the demand for restoration of Article 370, is the same as that of countries like Pakistan, and asked the Congress if it agrees with the "anti-national" views of the National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party over its support to them.
The delimitation commission will visit Jammu and Kashmir between July 6-9 and interact with political parties, public representatives and officials of the UT to gather 'first hand' information of the mega exercise to carve out new constituencies, the EC said.
Ganderbal was once the bastion of the Abdullah family but this time around, the electoral battle in this north Kashmir assembly constituency is being fought sans the Abdullah's.
'They forget that denial of basic rights has helped create a big political void which is adding to a deepening alienation.' 'This creates a fertile ground for extremist elements and targeted killings which we are witness to once again.'
'Anybody who speaks up, anybody who reports something that the government feels uncomfortable with, or comments on anything could be charged with criminal cases, could be summoned to police stations, slapped around or grilled for several hours. This has become a new norm.'
Modi said Vajpayee would remain an inspiration and said the outpouring of emotions following his death despite his being away from public life for over a decade due to illness, shows his greatness.
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.
In the words of a senior PDP leader, the party, in order to continue its alliance with the BJP, only needs 'a long spoon to sup with the devil.'
'Her tussle is a different ballgame from what it was when Farooq Abdullah and Rajiv Gandhi were the main players at the two ends of the power game.' 'The shadow of the party in power in New Delhi over J&K affairs in 1987 was not as menacing as it is in 2018,' points out Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the doyen of Kashmir commentators.
Barring a stone pelting incident at Soibagh area in Budgam district, the situation was peaceful in the areas where the polling was held, the officials said.
The National Conference, the People's Democratic Party and the Congress on Saturday said they will take a call on attending a meeting with the prime minister in Delhi after deliberations within their respective parties, while the Bharatiya Janata Party expressed hope that all invitees will take part in the all-party deliberations.
Governor's rule was imposed in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday after political parties failed to muster the requisite number in the 87-member assembly for staking claim to form the government.
Some members held placards of news reports about unemployment figures.
'The Election Commission is in the process of updating electoral rolls.' 'Once that is done, the dates for elections will be announced by the ECI at an appropriate time.' 'What can be more democratic than this?'
The father of Amir Magray, one of the four persons killed in an encounter in Hyderpora area of Srinagar in November, on Thursday filed a petition in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court seeking the return of his son's body, maintaining his 'innocence' and the family's long contribution in the fight against terrorism.
The vehicle was on its way to Ramban town from Banihal when the accident occurred around 9.55 am. The driver lost control over the "overcrowded" vehicle which rolled down the deep gorge at Kela Morh near Maroof, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Doda-Kishtwar-Ramban range, Rafiq-ul-Hassan, said.
The new faces in the state cabinet include former Indian cricketer Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Shovandeb Chattopadhaya, Kolkata Mayor Shovan Chatterjee, Abani Mohan Joarder, Abdur Rezzak Mollah, Suvendu Adhikari, Rabindranath Ghosh, Churamani Mahato, James Kujur, Siddikullah Choudhury, Asima Patra, Ghulam Rabbani, Zakir Hossain, Sandhya Rani Tudu, singer Indranil Sen, Tapan Dasgupta and B Hansda.
The report published in the gazettes of India appeared in local newspapers on Monday and showed that Habba Kadal seat in Kashmir division and Suchetgarh seat in Jammu province had been restored.
The bus, which way on its way to Kishtwar from Keshwan, skidded off the road at Sirgwari and rolled down into the gorge around 7:30 am.
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.
Shah said nobody can stop him from introducing a resolution on Kashmir in Parliament.
The Amarnath pilgrimage resumed on Monday after remaining suspended for three days following flash floods that claimed 15 lives, while the Jammu and Kashmir administration said it would get a clear picture by Tuesday about the damage.
There is, between Rao's tenure as PM and the current Modi regime, a powerful resonance of how transition can be managed. Rao's tenure saw many scams -- one where he was supposedly approached by Harshad Mehta with a bribe for making the securities scam go away. The Opposition insisted on a JPC. Despite knowing a JPC report would undermine him politically, Rao agreed to one, saying he had 'nothing to hide'.
The police on Tuesday said businessman Mohammad Altaf Bhat was killed in the "cross-firing" between militants and security forces at Hyderpora on Monday, but he would be counted as a "harbourer of terrorists" as he did not inform authorities about the tenants in his building.
'We demand immediate release of all public representatives of mainstream political parties and innocent citizens,' the resolution said.
As the security forces were engaged in the exchange of firing with holed-up terrorists, a large number of protesters started pelting stones at the law enforcing agencies.
Out of the 280 constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, 43 are going to polls in the second phase with 25 in Kashmir and 18 in Jammu division.
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