Omar had lost the seat to People's Democratic Party candidate Qazi Mohammad Afzal during 2002 assembly polls, which proved crucial in the formation of the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed-led PDP Congress coalition government that ruled the state for nearly six years.
Moderate to brisk voting was recorded in the two constituencies of Ganderbal and Kangan in north Kashmir Sunday as authorities again clamped undeclared curfew in the rest of the Valley to prevent the proposed separatist march in Srinagar.
Outside Rampur, Azam Khan's name may be an alias for controversy. But Rampur's voters believe that all the improvements in their constituency has been accomplished only by the man they have elected 8 times to the state assembly.
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah, who is opposed to the execution of Mohammed Afzal, has said the death punishment for the Parliament terror attack convict is "too extreme".
The chief patron of opposition National Conference told reporters here that as per media reports, Afzal appeared to be\ninnocent and he had not been given a chance to defend himself.
The BSF opened fire in Pakharpora near Charar-e-Sharif area to quell stone-pelting protesters in which at least one person was killed and five injured.
In his brief address, the external affairs minister said India's friendship with Afghanistan is "strong and unshaken" and that no part of the country is untouched by New Delhi's development programmes.
Sayeed, Abdullah and Bhat appeared together at the centenary celebrations of S P College where they studied 50 years ago.
Opposition Peoples Democratic Party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has urged the Union government to return the mortal remains of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru to his family for burial 'to retrieve trust of the people of Kashmir'.
The Congress hit out at the BJP, demanding the immediate arrest of those who have defamed India at the international level instead of enacting a "drama of action".
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said he would discuss the issue of providing security to panchayat members at the next meeting of the Unified Headquarters to ensure their safety and smooth functioning.
The Jammu and Kashmir government is working on changes in the laws relating to rape to make these more stringent.
Four persons, including a Pakistani terrorist and his accomplice, were killed in a gunfight in Hyderpora locality of Srinagar late Monday evening. The dead also included the house owner and a doctor, whom police dubbed as 'terror associates'.
'Aggravated fears about the fate of Article 370 and Article 35A of the Constitution have reopened old wounds and laid bare the widening emotional distance between Srinagar and New Delhi,' says Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
A total of 123 candidates, including seven ministers of Congress-National Conference coalition, eight former ministers and legislators are in fray for the Jammu and Kashmir's first phase of elections scheduled later this month.
The chain of events set off by 'August 9, 1953' has swept away many illusions, demolished quite a few landmarks and woven an altogether new tapestry of the Centre-state relationship, says Mohammad Sayeed Malik.
>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.
Clarifying her stand on alleged custodial death of a ruling National Conference activist, opposition Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday said that her party was not demanding the dismissal of the state government on the issue, but only stepping down of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his junior home minister Nasir Aslam Wani to enable a fair investigation.
While Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that he would present his case before the judicial inquiry ordered by the state government into mysterious death of Syed Mohammad Yousuf, a National Conference worker last week, People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti is unwilling to buy his theory.
Only three per cent of women candidates have been allotted tickets in Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls.
The Jammu and Kashmir government has rubbished allegations by the Opposition Peoples Democratic Party about the death of a worker of the ruling National Conference allegedly in police custody. PDP has demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Minister of State for Home Nasir Aslam Wani so that the "judicial probe can proceed impartially'.
Jammu and Kashmir Congress minister Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed will continue in the council of ministers, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Saturday, a day after he divested him of education portfolio in the wake of examination scandal involving his step-son.
The suspension of four National Conference members had prompted the opposition leaders to boycott the ongoing session of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly.
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.
Reeling under strict restrictions with no access to communication since August 5 when the Centre announced its decision to end Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 and bifurcate the state into two union territories, the people in the Valley have been facing a hair-raising challenge of finding a hairdresser to have their unkempt beards trimmed and unruly locks chopped.
An anti-corruption court on Tuesday rejected the plea of the family of the ruling National Conference activist Sayeed Mohammad Yusuf, who allegedly died in police custody on September 30, for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe.
Raja Ijaz, inspector general crime of Jammu and Kashmir police, has denied comments attributed to him by Syed Talib about his father Syed Mohammad Yousuf, who died under mysterious circumstances after a meeting with Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
Security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to track down the assailants but no arrests have been made so far, the officials said on Monday.
With political stalemate continuing in Jammu and Kashmir, National Conference's working president Omar Abdullah on Monday held a meeting with top party leaders where it was decided that it will have no tie-up with the Bharatiya Janata Party but was ready to support the Peoples Democratic Party in the government-formation.
One of the most wanted terrorist, Mudasir Pandit, and a Pakistani ultra were among the three terrorist killed in an overnight encounter with security forces in the Sopore area of Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district, police said.
Protests broke out in some states on Friday, including Delhi's Jama Masjid and stone-petling at policemen in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj and Saharanpur, over the controversial remarks on Prophet Muhammad by two now-suspended Bharatiya Janata Party functionaries with demonstrators in Jharkhand injuring a few policemen while authorities in Jammu imposed a curfew in few areas and parts of Kashmir observed a shutdown.
India strongly condemned the terror attack, saying targeting of a religious place in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak reflects the "diabolical mindset" of the perpetrators and their backers.
The outgoing Lok Sabha had 23 Muslim MPs, the most being from Congress and TMC. The highest number of Muslim MPs were in 1980 when as many as 49 MPs from the community which constitute nearly fifth of Indian population present in the Lok Sabha.
Afghanistan caused a major upset in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup when it defeated three-time champion and last edition runner-up Australia by 36 runs at Abu Dhabi Oval 2 on Monday.
Two government school teachers, including a woman, were shot dead by terrorists in Eidgah area of Srinagar amid increasing attacks on civilians in Jammu and Kashmir, police said.
The Peoples Democratic Party on Wednesday virtually turned down the offer of support from its arch rival National Conference for government formation, dimming the prospects of an early resolution to the political stalemate resulting from the hung verdict in last month's assembly polls.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said India will continue to extend all support to the Afghanistan as a contiguous neighbour, in a clear reference that the Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir belongs to India.
If Mehbooba is 'allowed' to survive unchecked she could transform her campaign into a sentiment typically suited to the ground conditions in Kashmir, observes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
'I am fascinated by people who cannot accept things.'
