Real challenge for Mehbooba Mufti will be how to make India listen to voice of Kashmir.
His father Somappa Rayappa Bommai was the state chief minister during 1988-1989.
>All old signposts have been uprooted and milestones bulldozed. New ones have yet to emerge. The old order stands degraded in the new landscape whose contours are indistinct, observes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
'First they will say Kashmiris are not good enough to be Indians, then it will be Muslims are not good enough to be Indians, then they will start a conflict within Hindus that Dalits are not Indians'
The Jammu and Kashmir assembly, which was in suspended animation, was abruptly dissolved by the governor on November 21, hours after the People's Democratic Party staked claim to form a government with the backing of rival National Conference and the Congress.
Mehbooba also became the second Muslim woman to become the chief minister of any state in India.
With the sacking of the grandson, Anees-ul-Islam, and the teacher, Farooq Ahmed Butt, the total number of employees dismissed in the last six months has gone up to 27.
'With the abrogation of Article 370, the Constitutional integration of Kashmir is complete, but whether there has been emotional integration of the Kashmir Valley is a question mark.'
Sources said the sudden death of Sayeed leaves the BJP with little choice but to go with his obvious successor.
'Please don't think that Kashmiris have accepted the abrogation of Article 370.' 'Please don't misconstrue silence as acceptance.'
Mukhtar Khan, Yasin Dar and Channi Anand -- three photojournalists working with the Associated Press (AP) -- were among those who were awarded the Pulitzer on Monday night.
'The politicians waiting to grab the space left behind by Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti do not have any credentials,' says Athar Parvaiz.
Raising slogans against Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and the administration, the demonstrators, mostly government employees posted in the troubled valley and their kin, demanded that they be provided adequate security or be transferred to Jammu. The employees also threatened en masse resignation from their jobs.
The 56-year-old leader, daughter of PDP founder Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, will take oath of office at Raj Bhawan in Jammu on Monday at 11.00 am.
The former CM of the state also lashed out at the state government saying the Peoples Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party ruling alliance was a failure.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday put the onus on the People's Democratic Party over the formation of a new government in Jammu and Kashmir, and said that they do not have any objection to PDP president Mehbooba Mufti becoming the chief mkinister.
Union Ministers Jitendra Singh and Hansraj Ahir assure Mehbooba Mufti of the Centre's support.
Taking to Twitter to express his anger, Abdullah, who is also the vice president of the National Conference, said that he would be taking legal action against the Chhattisgarh chief minister for his comments made during an interview to a prominent English newspaper.
Security deployment remained in vulnerable areas and mobile and internet services were yet to be restored in most parts of the Valley 48 days after the Centre abrogated Article 370 provisions of the Constitution.
Restrictions under Section 144 CrPc have been imposed in few areas of the valley to maintain law and order, the officials said.
Modi said he relied on his 'raw wisdom' to dispel the doubts of the defence experts who had planned the mission.
The leaders are Ishfaq Jabbar and Ghulam Nabi Bhat (NC) and Bashir Mir Zahoor Mir and Yasir Reshi (PDP) and one Independent ex-MLA.
'The government can do many things to improve the situation in Kashmir.'
Prasad asserted that Article 370, which gave the erstwhile state a special status and was revoked last year, will not be restored.
The bypoll assumes significance as Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is seeking her election to the assembly from the constituency.
'We have been fighting for the last 70 years on the issue of Article 370.'
In the petition, Congress activist Tehseen Poonawalla ought withdrawal of 'curfew/restrictions' and release of leaders like former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti.
The appointment has raised eye-brows. People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti called it a 'shocking violation' of the spirit of justice and alleged that it will encourage 'rape culture'.
Amid suspense over government formation, late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's family has vacated the chief minister's official bungalow in Jammu, the winter capital of the state, leading to questions as to what his daughter and expected successor Mehbooba Mufti could be up to.
Former Jammu and Kashmir CMs placed under arrest as they were considered a threat to the law-and-order situation in the state.
The first signs of efforts to end the nine-day impasse on government formation in Jammu and Kashmir emerged on Saturday with Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti calling a meeting of her party's "extended core group" in Srinagar, expectedly to discuss the future course of action and ties with ally Bharatiya Janata Party.
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.
Sitharaman told the chief minister that she would seek a detailed report in connection with the incident.
The leading constituent in Maharashtra's ruling coalition said it had always respected Indira Gandhi, who it said, had a towering and strong personality. Whenever there were attempts to malign her image, the Shiv Sena acted as a shield. She was a powerful leader who split Pakistan and avenged Partition, the Marathi daily said.
'Although the tactical move to outflank the BJP fell through with New Delhi's decisive intervention and eventual dissolution of the state assembly, the PDP, NC and the Congress appeared to be more than satisfied.' 'They see the assembly dissolution as their 'great achievement'.' 'If one were to believe what they say, this was also their main objective,' reveals Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the doyen of Kashmiri commentators.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in all-party meeting on Jammu and Kashmir, on Wednesday said that his government is fully committed to the 'democratic process' in the region and holding the assembly elections is a priority, sources said.
The BJP general secretary said it was untenable for them to continue in the alliance.
The administration -- which has been facing flak on the issue with the Editors Guild of India terming the events a 'coup' and a continuing trend to smother press freedom -- cited 'unpleasant developments and dissensions between various groups of journalists' as the reason for the takeover of the premises in Srinagar's high street Polo Ground area.
An editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana also asked what has changed in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370, and said 'Hindutva means nationalism'.
A total of 146 militancy-related incidents took place between January 15, 2015 to January 15, 2016, leaving 169 people -- 108 militants, 39 security personnel and 22 civilians -- dead. A total of 181 incidents of border firing were reported during the same period in the state which left 22 persons including eight security personnel dead and 75 others, including 13 security men injured
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