BJP's stated position is that Article 370 should be scrapped for total integration of J&K with India.
Among the keenly watched contests are those involving former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav (Kannauj, UP) and Union ministers Giriraj Singh (Begusarai, Bihar), Nityanand Rai (Ujiarpur, Bihar) and Raosaheb Danve (Jalna, Maharashtra).
The controversy over Article 370 continued unabated on Wednesday with the rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh hitting back at Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for his remarks but he made it clear that it cannot be revoked without recalling the Constituent Assembly that is "impossible".
'As we enter 2025, it must be acknowledged that there is a convergence of capital, influential people (from business and politics) and technology deciding the destiny of others in the name of pride, patriotism, nationalism, nation building, all of it thinly veiled disguises for personal profit and glory,' asserts Shyam G Menon.
They said preliminary investigation revealed that terrorists hurled a grenade at a naka (patrol) party near Nishat Park in the district in north Kashmir, causing splinter injuries to five security forces personnel.
"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.
The United Nations General Assembly, heeding to a call by Prime Minister Modi, had made a declaration in December 2014 to observe June 21 every year as IDY.
The Opposition INDIA bloc on Friday finalised a 14-member coordination-cum-election strategy committee comprising members of various parties, and it will function as the alliance's highest decision-making body and start work on seat-sharing immediately, sources said.
'Don't worry, will sort it out son'
In an emphatic victory for the Modi government, the Supreme Court on Monday unanimously upheld its decision to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution that bestowed special status upon the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, ordered restoration of statehood "at the earliest" and set a September 30, 2024, deadline for holding the assembly elections.
The action, announced by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, is a response to the group's involvement in fomenting terrorism and spreading anti-India sentiment within the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who set off a national debate when he walked the Bharat Jodo Yatra in a T-shirt in north India's cold winter, donned a pheran to ward off Kashmir's bone-freezing chill on Monday.
The replies from the governor seek to put to rest a week's uncertainty that had been dogging the valley especially after Centre had rushed 100 companies (10,000 security personnel) to the state.
The newly-elected MLAs of Peoples Democratic Party have voiced apprehensions about the party's future in the Valley if it was to enter into an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party for government formation in Jammu and Kashmir.
'On the drive to the airport, the streets are lined with men in battle camouflage carrying assault rifles and bearing familiar faces -- Tamilians, Bengalis, Punjabis, feared by the locals and in turn fearing them,' notes Aakar Patel during a visit to Srinagar.
All opposition parties from J&K to apprise President of Kashmir situation.
Besides Azad, two PDP and one BJP candidate won.
The last assembly elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir in 2014, five years before the erstwhile state was reorganised into two Union territories on August 5, 2019.
'Unlike in the sporting arena, where sports federations moved from partisan to impartial referees, in Indian democracy's biggest festival, it appears we are moving backward from unbiased and objective to one-sided and partisan,' observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Pro-Pakistan leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani's death has brought to an end a chapter of anti-India and separatist politics in Kashmir.
Meanwhile, home minister Rajanth Singh said 90 per cent people in J&K keen to participate in panchayat polls.
Lal Singh has alleged that Kashmiri journalists have created "an erroneous atmosphere"
This is probably for the first time that curfew is in place on the day of Eid festival ever since militancy broke out in the state in 1990.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has indicated that the Congress party is in alignment with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on major foreign policy issues like the relationship with the United States, no talks with Pakistan unless the flow of terrorism is stopped, concerns over extremist elements in Bangladesh and Israel.
'We have been fighting for the last 70 years on the issue of Article 370.'
Private cars have come under stone-pelting at many places as the miscreants want to enforce shutdown.
In identical public notices published in local newspapers, they distanced themselves from separatist politics.
Usha Uthup and Mithun Chakraborty were among those who were conferred with the prestigious Padma Bhushan award for their outstanding contribution to Indian cinema.
The foreign minister said the conversation between the two leaders was held in a 'cordial environment'.
The Bal Puraskar was conferred by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who gave digital certificates to the awardees using blockchain technology developed by IIT Kanpur.
The Congress said the rally by the INDIA will send a "strong message" to the Lok Kalyan Marg, where the prime minister's residence is located, that the BJP-led government's "time is up".
What should have been a direct contest between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress in the Ladakh Lok Sabha constituency is now a three-corner fight with an alliance of local groups fielding an Independent to challenge the national parties.
"What do they want us to do? They label us as a threat to peace and cage, confine and gag us. So how can we be of help?" said Mirwaiz.
Campaigning for May 13 elections in 96 Lok Sabha constituencies across 10 states and Union territories including all seats in Andhra Pradesh, where assembly elections are also being held concurrently, and Telangana concluded on Saturday evening.
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.
National Conference leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah has rejected the notion that the threat of a nuclear war would solve the Kashmir issue, asserting that the region would never be a part of Pakistan and dialogue is the best way to "move forward".
The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Saturday announced compensation and jobs to the kin of the three civilians who were found dead in Poonch district as a massive search operation was underway to track down terrorists behind the recent ambush on two Army vehicles that left five soldiers dead.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to chair a meeting with all political parties from Jammu and Kashmir on June 24 as part of the Centre's initiatives to bolster political processes, including holding assembly elections, in the union territory, officials said in New Delhi.
The announcement came after PAGD leaders met at Abdullah's Gupkar Road residence in Srinagar to discuss the Centre's invitation.
