Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Nagrota MLA Devender Singh Rana, brother of Union minister Jitendra Singh, died on Thursday at a private hospital in Haryana's Faridabad. He was 59.
Congress leader Saifuddin Soz is presently in an eye of the storm due to his book 'Kashmir: Glimpses of History and the Story of Struggle.' Soz, the former president of Jammu and Kashmir Congress committee, has also been in the National Conference. He was also a minister in the United Progressive Alliance government. PTI-Bhasha spoke to Soz on the issue of breakup of the Bharatiya Janata Party-Peoples Democratic Party alliance in Jammu and Kashmir and the prevailing situation in the Valley.
Opposition Peoples Democratic Party on Saturday expressed disappointment over the hanging of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru and appealed to the people of Kashmir to exercise restraint.
This is the third time the party is boycotting a meeting, amid rumours that all is not well with the coalition.
Peoples Democratic Party on Tuesday said it is in a "difficult" situation over choosing a post-poll ally as election trends show that it won't be able to form government on its own.
PDP will ask the Centre for Geelani's passport on humanitarian grounds to visit his ailing daughter in Saudi Arabia
Terrorists struck at two places in Kashmir on Saturday night, killing a former sarpanch in Shopian and injuring a tourist couple from Rajasthan in Anantnag, two days ahead of Lok Sabha elections in Baramulla.
The former J-K CM said the general perception about the delay in government formation was that it is being done to salvage some bare minimum credibility for the PDP.
A local court in Ajmer has issued notices to the dargah committee, the Ministry of Minority Affairs, and the Archaeological Survey of India on a plea seeking to declare the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti a temple. The petition, filed in September, has sparked a heated debate, with politicians and community leaders weighing in on the potentially volatile issue. The dargah committee has declined to comment, but the Anjuman Syed Zadgan, a body representing the caretakers of the dargah, described the petition as a deliberate attempt to fracture society along communal lines. The petition comes just days after four people were killed in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, following a local court ordering survey of a Mughal-era shrine. The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which fixed August 15, 1947, as the cut-off date for status quo on the character of religious places, is at the centre of much of the debate. Several politicians, including Union minister Giriraj Singh and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, have weighed in on the issue. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has called the civil court's decision to entertain the petition unwarranted and has asked the Supreme Court to immediately intervene.
An opposition Peoples Democratic Party MLA on Wednesday slapped a marshal in the Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly as proceedings were marred by unruly scenes.
Outgoing Chief Minister Omar Abdullah categorically said on Thursday night that there was "no deal" or any "discussion" going on between his National Conference and the Bharatiya Janata Party over the issue of government formation in Jammu and Kashmir.
He also claimed that the decision to withdraw support was not taken keeping in mind the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
"We have not accepted any new condition from the PDP," said Madhav, the party's pointsman in the state.
The rebel legislators on Friday accused the former CM of putting them and their families at risk by claiming that the internal rumblings in the party done at the behest of Delhi.
Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather on Thursday rejected the Bharatiya Janata Party's demand for either rolling back the special status resolution passed by the House or stepping down, and said if the party does not have faith in him it should bring a no-confidence motion.
The Peoples Democratic Party on Saturday set tough conditions for the Bharatiya Janata Party which is wooing it for the formation of the new government in Jammu and Kashmir, declaring that its stand against revocation of Art 370 was "non-negotiable".
Once a trusted lieutenant of the former National Conference president Omar Abdullah and his political advisor during his tenure as chief minister, Rana holds considerable sway among Muslims, particularly the Gujjar community in Jammu.
Criticising both the Peoples Democratic Party and the National Conference as Kashmir-centric parties which discriminate against the Jammu region, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday termed former chief minister Dr Farooq Abdullah's statement that there is a BJP-PDP alliance as "totally irresponsible and politically motivated".
Meanwhile, police did not allow journalists to gather near National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah and vice-president Omar Abdullah's residence at Gupkar here, officials said.
Lashing out at Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, Rashid on Wednesday alleged that they have "destroyed" Kashmir.
Coming down heavily on the People's Democratic Party for creating a ruckus in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly, Union Minister for Non-Renewable Sources of Energy Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday said the PDP does not want any development in the state."The PDP just wants to create chaos. They don''t want any development for Kashmir and do not want to see the people prosper. First they attacked the Speaker and on Tuesday they took on the chief minister," he said.
With 19 border polling stations along the Line of Control in Rajouri and Poonch, a contingency plan has been worked out to deal with cross-border shelling though chances are negligible given the ongoing ceasefire between India and Pakistan that came into effect in February 2021, officials said.
Mehbooba Mufti will be CM while Nirmal Singh will again be the deputy chief minister in the new cabinet, a post he had held in the Mufti Mohammed Syeed's dispensation.
Peoples Democratic Party leaders on Wednesday met the family of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru at Doabgah Sopore in north Kashmir.
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.
Mehbooba wants a congenial political atmosphere and everybody's support before taking the reins of power; hence the delay in government formation. Aditi Phadnis opines.
The differences with the BJP over contentious issues like Article 370 and AFSPA have been ironed out.
Former state minister and senior leader of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) Ghulam Hassan Mir was Sunday expelled from the basic membership of the party for his alleged anti-party activities. Mir had been defying the party high command ever since he lost the Cabinet berth in 2005, when the PDP handed over the chief ministership to its Congress ally in Jammu and Kashmir.
The National Conference and rival Peoples Democratic Party were on Friday locked in a blame game over Jammu and Kashmir being brought under Governor's rule following the prolonged stalemate over formation of a government in the state.
The BJP has emerged the second largest party by winning 29 constituencies in the maiden assembly polls post abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, improving its all-time high tally of 25 seats recorded in 2014 elections.
Vohra has called Mehbooba and Sharma for separate meetings on Tuesday to discuss the issue of government formation in the state which is under governor's rule since January 8
Attempts to revive the BJP-PDP coalition in Jammu and Kashmir failed on Friday with the BJP ruling out government-formation on the basis of conditions.
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.
After the PDP-BJP government was sworn in, the two parties released its Common Minimum Programme, outlining its aims and objectives for the state.
The Army cancelled the event "due to implementation of the Model Code of Conduct".
There is a limit to ignoring genuine aspirations of the people and suppressing their legitimate voice in running the affairs of the state, notes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
Tasaduq, a famed cinematographer, joined the party in the presence of his sister and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti who was there along with her cabinet and party colleagues. In his brief speech at the function, Tasaduq thanked the party workers for their love and affection towards PDP.
The row broke out after a private television news agency attributed the excerpts of the article shared by the NC leader to him.
The L-G will take decisions on police, officers of all-India services such as the IAS and the IPS, and giving sanction for prosecution in various cases.
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.
