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.
Cautioning the Peoples Democratic Party against forging an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party in Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress party on Tuesday hoped that party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed would take a decision that best suits the "current political consensus" that has evolved in the state.
Mehbooba Mufti was on Monday re-elected as the president of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party for a further period of three years.
Lashing out at Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, Rashid on Wednesday alleged that they have "destroyed" Kashmir.
A group of several hundred people pelted stones at the house of PDP MP Nazir Ahmad Laway and injured two security guards, a police officer said.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
He also claimed that the decision to withdraw support was not taken keeping in mind the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
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.
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.
"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.
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.
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".
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".
The Army cancelled the event "due to implementation of the Model Code of Conduct".
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah was sworn in as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, the first elected government in the Union Territory since 2019 when Article 370 was abrogated.
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.
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.
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.
The row broke out after a private television news agency attributed the excerpts of the article shared by the NC leader to him.
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.
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.
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 differences with the BJP over contentious issues like Article 370 and AFSPA have been ironed out.
More than 40 per cent of the 908 candidates contesting the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are Independents, leading to claims that a large number of them have been propped up by the Bharatiya Janata Party to divide votes.
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.
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.
'There is a huge wait in Kashmir for compassion from the prime minister of India.'
After the PDP-BJP government was sworn in, the two parties released its Common Minimum Programme, outlining its aims and objectives for the state.
