The PDP looks a distant third in the race, observes Mohammed Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir politics.
Releasing the party manifesto, which talks of resolution of Kashmir issue on the lines of its "self-rule" formula, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti made it clear that her party was jumping into the poll bandwagon, but wished that the Centre should have initiated a "serious dialogue" with all sections in the Kashmir Valley before holding elections.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi resumed his Bharat Jodo Yatra from Awantipora in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Saturday, a day after cancelling the foot-march in Anantnag district after the party alleged security lapse.
The Central team, which is in Jammu to take stock of the situation in the state over the Amarnath land row, will meet delegates of the Shri Amarnath Sangarsh Samiti at 4.30 pm on Saturday evening. Leaders from the Kashmir Valley, including National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti and Saifuddin Soz, will be kept out of the meet as demanded by the Samiti.
The special NIA judge charged him with being a member of a terror group, raising funds for them as well as aiding an outfit.
The incident took place at Tumchi Nowpora of Pulwama district in South Kashmir when the labourer, Mukesh Kumar, was in the market to buy some vegetables.
'The PDP has all the time stressed that the semblance of peace and normalcy it has brought in the valley must not be taken for granted. There is no substitute for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute. The problem is still there,' says the PDP vice president
National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah said notifying the rules for the CAA days before the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections shows the Bharatiya Janata Party is not confident about winning 400 seats in the ensuing polls.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah made a fresh appeal to the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party to attend the all party meet on Monday to discuss the present situation in the Kashmir valley.
The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said such efforts have lost credibility as there has hardly been any follow-up after similar visits in the past.
In a significant political development, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah announced on Thursday that an alliance with the Congress was finalised for all 90 assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir, which is going for its maiden assembly polls after being reorganised into a Union Territory.
'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.'
A new political party called the 'Jammu and Kashmir Apni (own) Party' (JKAP) will be launched on Sunday and will be led by former state finance minister Syed Altaf Bukhari, with the primary aim of proving "relief to people who have been facing uncertainty since August 5 last year". This will be the first political activity in Jammu and Kashmir after August 5 last year, when the Centre withdrew the special status of the erstwhile state and bifurcated it into Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
The row broke out after a private television news agency attributed the excerpts of the article shared by the NC leader to him.
The visit by the MPs comes nearly two months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met top leaders of Jammu and Kashmir on June 24.
The encounter took place when the troops of Rashtriya Rifles and Special Operations Group of J&K Police launched a joint cordon and search operation at Dhari Gote Urarbagi in Desa forest belt, some 55 km from Doda town, late Monday evening, the officials said.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley was on Sunday detained as he arrived at the airport here on his way to communal violence-hit Kishtwar, which was made out of bounds for political leaders by the Jammu and Kashmir government.
'Our fight is not against the country but against the BJP and its ideology. The BJP is not the country and vice versa'
"There have been no talks about supporting or not supporting....We have left the decision to the Congress since we do not make the numbers together (to form a government)," party chief Mehbooba Mufti said. Replying to questions, she said, "we are ready to sit in the opposition...We have a party, we have an agenda, we have our programmes to follow.
The People's Democratic Party on Sunday said the high voter turnout should not be considered as end of the road as Jammu and Kashmir is different from other states of the country. "Jammu and Kashmir is not like any other state just because over 60 per cent of people voted. It is not the end of the road. The people here have different aspirations and ambitions," party president Mehbooba Mufti said.
Of 25 results that have been actually declared, the NC bagged 12 seats and is projected to win another 18 seats in a house of 87 members. With no party getting the required the 44 seats for a majority, the Congress will play the 'kingmaker'. Congress has already won four seats and is ahead in 11 other seats.
Because of the treaty, no big dams or power projects can be built by India on Jhelum, Indus or Chenab.
The Bharatiya Janata Party said that there should not be any politics on the Supreme Court ruling and everyone should respect it.
If talks are progressing in the right direction, the violence will come down automatically," the Mirwaiz contended.
Mehbooba was addressing a joint press conference with Omar Abdullah and Hurriyat Conference Chief Mirwaiz Umer Farooq on the sidelines of the Hindustan Times Summit.
The alliance adopted a resolution to this effect and said its theme for the elections will be "Judega Bharat, Jeetega India, (India will unite, India will win)".
Although the Supreme Court has mandated the Centre to conduct the polls by the end of September, a spate of terrorist attacks in J&K could cause delays.
With numbers on its side -- the ruling NDA has about half the votes of the electoral college -- and the possible support of fence-sitters like the BJD, the AIADMK and the YSRCP, the NDA candidate will likely sail through the contest.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh also called up Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and discussed the situation with her.
'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.
Two senior Jammu and Kashmir ministers were among over 32 injured in a powerful hand grenade explosion at a Peoples Democratic Party rally in the border town of Uri in Barramulla district on Thursday afternoon.
Private cars have come under stone-pelting at many places as the miscreants want to enforce shutdown.
Omar also said he would never prefer horse trading to end the stalemate.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has urged her Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar to ensure strict action in this case.
The National Conference president also extended an invitation to the Mirwaiz and Mehbooba for a separate meeting.
