'If the National Conference and PDP make handsome electoral gains in the valley and call for the restoration of the former state's lost status, how will the rulers in Delhi respond?' asks Amulya Ganguli.
With uncertainty looming large over the continuance of Peoples Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said his party is ready to consider a tie-up with the saffron party for government formation if such an offer is received.
Mahdani was arrested for the 1998 serial bomb blasts in Coimbatore and held in prison for the past eight years.
The date for the oath ceremony of the new cabinet was decided after deliberations between the leadership of both the parties.
Leaders from Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday said after attending Prime Minister Narendra Modi's all-party meeting that they will 'continue to struggle' against the abrogation of Article 370 and urged the PM to restore the statehood of J-K at the earliest.
'This election was the first opportunity where Kashmiris told the world they do not agree with the Centre's policies and are unhappy about their disempowerment.'
The governor said he wanted polls to take place in the state and an elected government to function.
As trends show a resounding victory for Mamata Banerjee and her party the Trinamool Congress in the state of West Bengal, opposition leaders have begun congratulating 'Didi' for her strong show in the polls.
"Trust is something that has been missing from both sides (Delhi and Srinagar). Successive prime ministers -- Jawaharlal Nehru, Narasimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee -- made promises but the trust deficit has persisted," he added.
As the Opposition held its first meeting on the Presidential polls and names of Farooq Abdullah and Gopalkrishna Gandhi also cropped up, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party reached out to several parties across the political spectrum to build a consensus choice with senior party leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh speaking to Sharad Pawar, Mallikarjun Kharge (Congress), Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool Congress), Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party) and Naveen Patnaik (Biju Janata Dal).
In first signs of ending the over a month-long impasse with regard to government formation in Jammu and Kashmir, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ram Madhav on Wednesday held formal talks with Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti during a brief visit in Srinagar.
Mehbooba Mufti is likely to call a meeting of senior party leaders in the coming days to clear the "misgivings" about the deadlock over government formation with the BJP.
'People will feel cheated as they always felt a part of India. We want to be with India and we want people of India to accept us.' Laway tells Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
However, not an inch of movement has taken place on the implementation of the 'Agenda of Alliance', the manifesto of the PDP-BJP coalition government. Unless the BJP plays ball, the PDP will be in serious trouble, warns Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs.
People's Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti said on Monday that she will not contest elections until 'both the constitutions' of India and the erstwhile state are made applicable to Jammu and Kashmir.
Opposition National Conference on Thursday termed the statement of union home minister on the revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Jammu and Kashmir as "unfortunate and counter-productive
'I take back my comment, but, now that you proved it was genuine love between the NC and the PDP that prompted a failed govt formation attempt'
Iltija, daughter of the former CM, had filed a habeas corpus (bring the person) petition in the apex court challenging the government's order issued on February 5 for invoking the Public Safety Act provision against Mehbooba Mufti to keep her in detention.
The former chief minister had on Tuesday alleged that Army personnel had thrashed a family in Tral town of Pulwama and injured a female member. Mufti said she was going to meet the family on Wednesday.
Hitting back at the Peoples Democratic Party, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday accused its leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed of "shutting his eyes" to the sex scandal when it first surfaced in 2006 as his own people were involved.
In the words of a senior PDP leader, the party, in order to continue its alliance with the BJP, only needs 'a long spoon to sup with the devil.'
In a series of tweets, Shah also questioned Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi whether they support the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), a conglomerate of regional and national political parties in Jammu and Kashmir formed to demand the restoration of the Article 370, scrapped last year.
Omar urged everyone who came in contact with his father recently to get tested.
Deadlock over government formation in J&K seems to have ended with PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday calling on PM Narendra Modi, a meeting which she described as "very positive" and "good" in addressing issues pertaining to the people of the state.
The Delhi police on Sunday registered a case based on a complaint filed by a woman journalist alleging that she was being targetted by an unidentified group of people on a mobile application named 'Bulli Bai' created on GitHub platform.
As the deadlock over government formation in Jammu and Kashmir continued, the state unit of Congress on Thursday backed Peoples Democratic Party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to lead the new dispensation to respect the people's verdict in the just-concluded assembly elections.
Interview with former JK chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. Azad feels all his good work as the chief minister was wiped clean by the emotional and divisive politics unleashed by the father-daughter duo of Mufti Mohd Sayeed and Mehbooba Mufti.
"It is now for the Congress to decide on the alliance. It has to see with which party it could consolidate the gains made in the state over the past five and half years since the 2002 elections," party chief Mehbooba Mufti told PTI.
Peoples Democratic Party legislator Nizam-ud-din Bhat, who has been accused of introducing a constitutional amendment bill with glimpses of secessionist ideas, has denied the allegation, and said that Jammu and Kashmir legislators must be free to propose amendments for the benefit of the people of the state.
The manifesto claims that while the BJP has unified the country by abrogating provisions of Article 370 and Article 35A that provided special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration -- an amalgam of several mainstream political parties, including the Ntional Conference and the People's Democratic Party -- was working against the national interest for vote bank politics.
Mufti Mohammad Sayeed wanted a government with the PDP (representing Kashmir), the BJP (representing Jammu) and the Congress (representing Ladakh), but he failed because the BJp and Congress were unwilling to make any exception to their national level inimical relationship, reveals Mohammad Sayeed Malik.
It also lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying "running a nation is not a child's play."
The polling was slated for March 5, March 7, March 9, March 12, March 14, March 16, March 18 and March 20.
The ruling National Conference as well as the opposition Peoples Democratic Party in Jammu and Kashmir have welcomed the Delhi high court's decision granting bail to Liyaqat Shah who was arrested by police on charges of planning a terror strike in the national capital.
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah has convened a meeting at his residence on Thursday for chalking out the future course of action on 'Gupkar Declaration' with regard to the special status of Jammu and Kashmir which was revoked by the Centre last year.
Government formation in Jammu and Kashmir could be delayed as both the BJP and PDP want more time from Governor N N Vohra when they meet him on Tuesday evening.
Lone was released days ahead of the first anniversary of the Centre's move to revoke Article 370 of the Constitution in August last year, the officials said. The JKPC chairman was moved to his residence in Srinagar in February this year and placed under house arrest, the officials said.
'His revelation about what went on behind the scenes make it abundantly clear that the BJP must have indulged in similar tactics in Goa, Manipur and Meghalaya where it formed a government even though it did not have a majority,' says Amulya Ganguli.
People's Democratic Partypatron Mufti Mohammed Sayeed will head a 25-member cabinet, half of it from Bharatiya Janata Party, in Jammu and Kashmir and the swearing-in ceremony on Sunday in Jammu will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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