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.
Omar also said he would never prefer horse trading to end the stalemate.
Was the decision taken by the Centre on August 5, 2019 to abrogate the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution, which bestowed a special status on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, constitutionally valid? The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce its verdict on Monday on a batch of petitions challenging the abrogation of the provisions of Article 370.
Dressed in colourful attire, members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday got their group photograph clicked in the old Parliament building, hours before legislative proceedings shift to the new Parliament House.
The state government last week announced the schedule for holding elections to local bodies and panchayats in the state.
Any decision to include "non-locals" in electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir is unacceptable and would be contested by all means, including in court, Nation Conference president Farooq Abdullah said on Monday after a meeting of nine parties over the issue.
The Omar-Abdullah led party said continuation of the Act was not in sync with the "significant" decrease in violence in the past six years.
The picture of the woman home guard with amputated legs sent shock waves across the state with Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) taking suo motu cognisance of the matter and directing the Director General of Police (DGP) to inquire into the matter and submit a report by September 15.
Unidentified persons on Wednesday created a ruckus at the South Mumbai office of former Mumbai sheriff Nana Chudasama, to protest his 'anti-Marathi' banner.
All political parties were asked at the dinner meeting on Monday night to suggest names for the alliance and the same would be discussed and consensus would be arrived at during the deliberations.
Re-elected National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah on Monday said boycotting the panchayat polls in 2018 was "a huge mistake" and the party must contest every future election in Jammu and Kashmir.
Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather's record run in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly ended on Tuesday when he lost from Charar-e-Sharief while his National Conference colleague Ali Mohammad Sagar equalled his feat of sixth consecutive victories by winning Khanyar seat.
The revenue department retrieved about 40 kanals of land allegedly occupied by the owners of Hotel Nedou's at MA Road in Srinagar, officials said.
Leaders from 26 opposition parties, in power individually or in alliance in Delhi and 10 states, are meeting in Bengaluru to discuss strategy to take on the Narendra Modi-led NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"We know you have the numbers and you will pass the budget anyway. But some good suggestions could have come from here (assembly)," he said.
People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) leaders, including three former chief ministers, were put under house arrest on Saturday before a protest against the proposals of Jammu and Kashmir Delimitation Commission, prompting angry reactions from political parties which said such steps will only 'incentivise and facilitate' violent agitations.
The padyatra concluded at the Lal Chowk area on Sunday with Rahul Gandhi unfurling the national flag but the official closing would take place on Monday in Srinagar, amid snowfall.
The man, Avinash Waghmare, was drunk and made the call on Saturday to "teach a lesson" to the owner of the hotel for allegedly overcharging him for a bottle of water, a senior police officer said on Sunday.
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)".
At the moment, there appears to be no alternative political narrative to the one lying buried under the debris of havoc caused on this front by the fallout of 'August 5, 2019', asserts Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
Saddam, a businessman, is the eldest among the two siblings. He has studied in England. Sofiya Nabi Azad, his sister, has studied journalism.
Chief Minister Manik Saha said that the BJP will contest in 55 constituencies in its bid to return to power in the northeastern state which has a 60-member assembly for the second time in a row.
The President's rule imposed in undivided Jammu and Kashmir was revoked on Thursday following the state's bifurcation into Union Territories, but the central rule will continue for an indefinite period through the Lieutenant Governor (LG) in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir.
Bikash Mohapatra presents a kaleidoscope of views from Jammu and Kashmir, where the five-phase polling for its six seats ended last week.
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.
Apprehending trouble from 'self-styled moral police forces' on Valentine's Day, the National Commission for Women has asked all the states in the country to ensure that women and girls are not harassed or assaulted by individuals or groups on February 14. NCW chairperson Girija Vyas has requested all chief ministers to kindly instruct the state machinery to be vigilant on the day. "There should not be any infringement upon the personal freedom of individuals," the NCW said.
The entry to the graveyard inside Naqshband sahib Shrine in Khawaja Bazaar near Nowhatta was sealed and security forces were deployed around the area to prevent anyone going inside, officials said.
A basic outline and roadmap for Opposition unity are likely to be deliberated upon with the contentious issue of seat sharing and leadership questions to be avoided for now.
The voluminous report has proposed redrawing of the Anantnag Parliamentary seat by including Rajouri and Poonch from the Jammu region, besides carrying out massive changes in the Kashmir division, they said.
The trust that runs the institution said she had resigned.
"Is it any surprise that the new Parliament is being consecrated with typically false narratives from WhatsApp University? The BJP-RSS distorians stand exposed yet again with maximum claims, minimum evidence," Congress general secretary communications Ramesh said in his tweet.
Two years after the special status of Jammu And Kashmir was abrogated and he was detained for 234 days, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said on Wednesday that after initially being 'deeply jaded' he had realised that as a politician he didn't have the right to 'mourn' for long and could not let down the people struggling for their basic constitutional rights.
The Centre is planning a series of political initiatives in Jammu and Kashmir which may include discussion with mainstream parties of the Union Territory and elections to the assembly in the early part of next year, officials said in New Delhi.
The ruling National Conference on Tuesday named patron Farooq Abdullah as the party's President, replacing his son Omar Abdullah, who became the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister on January 5 following assembly elections in the state.
The president and other office-bearers of the Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement, a political outfit floated by IAS officer Shah Faesal in 2019, joined the Aam Aadmi Party in New Delhi on Thursday.
"We will go to any extent to protect Article 35A," said Mufti.
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.
Meanwhile, home minister Rajanth Singh said 90 per cent people in J&K keen to participate in panchayat polls.
>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.
Jammu and Kashmir has been without an assembly since November 2018 when the then legislative assembly was dissolved by then Governor Satya Pal Malik after the People's Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition government fell apart earlier that year.