The Bharatiya Janata Party lined up several promises, including a legislation to protect traditions of the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala and a law against "love jihad", while assuring employment for at least one person from each family and free laptops to high school students, in its manifesto for the assembly polls unveiled in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
In a major setback to ruling National Conference-Congress coalition in Jammu and Kashmir, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday shared the six Lok Sabha seats in the state as two Union ministers, including Farooq Abdullah, bit the dust.
One year after his death, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's legacy stands crucially poised, says Mohammad Sayeed Malik.
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.
Political and communal divide in Jammu and Kashmir has assumed such proportions that even the horrifying rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl is not bringing society together, writes Athar Parvaiz.
Only three per cent of women candidates have been allotted tickets in Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls.
'If two regional parties in Jammu and Kashmir find common ground to rule the state, they would have given a more stable and efficient government.' 'This was a good possibility of restoring peace in Kashmir.' 'If you really wanted to give peace a chance, we should have allowed them to form a government.'
Officials said both the factions of the Hurriyat are likely to be banned under Section 3(1) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or the UAPA, under which "if the Central Government is of opinion that any association is, or has become, an unlawful association, it may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare such association to be unlawful."
The 82-year-old former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister received the ED summons a day after the formation of the People's Alliance led by him was announced on October 15.
This is in addition to the four separatists whose security was withdrawn on Sunday.
Gandhi's flying into Srinagar to meet Mehbooba assumes significance as there are reports that the PDP and the BJP are bargaining afresh over the formation of a new government.
Mehbooba Mufti, his eldest child, will likely succeed him.
India exhaled a huge sigh of relief in the weekend as Bhutan's opposition People Democratic Party defeated the incumbent Druk Pheunshum Tshogpa in polls, setting the stage for a renewal of ties that had come frayed in the recent controversy over removal of subsidies for liquefied petroleum gas and kerosene.
A regular morning cup of tea proved fatal for two unarmed policemen who were gunned down by a terrorist in broad daylight in an upmarket Srinagar area, an incident witnessed by several people and captured on CCTV cameras, police said on Friday.
'It is a matter of regret that the BJP and PDP refused to take the Pandits aboard in this government.' 'The present government is following a policy of soft secessionism.'
Governor's rule was imposed in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday after political parties failed to muster the requisite number in the 87-member assembly for staking claim to form the government.
Pandemonium hit the Jammu and Kashmir state assembly on Monday again as the speaker disallowed an adjournment motion moved by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party seeking a discussion on the alleged custodial death of a ruling National Conference worker in Srinagar last week.
The Jammu and Kashmir assembly was on Monday adjourned for the day following pandemonium after the speaker rejected an adjournment motion notice moved by Opposition Peoples Democratic Party demanding discussion on the death of a National Conference worker allegedly in police custody.
'Modi has missed the bus in Kashmir.'
While the leadership of the biggest Opposition party, the Congress, has not reacted, even non-Congress and (now) anti-BJP parties like the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) have voiced no view on Banerjee's appeal, reports Aditi Phadnis.
Pandemonium broke out on Monday in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly over an adjournment motion moved by the Opposition People's Democratic Party to discuss the death of a National Conference worker allegedly in police custody.
As round one of the seven-phase Lok Sabha election began in 91 constituencies across the length and breadth of India, from the hills of Kashmir to the islands of Andaman and Nicobar, reports of unrest and irregularities cast shadows over the world's biggest poll process.
"Talks are the only option," Mehbooba said. "How long can you have a confrontation?"
The Minister assured the House that security requirement of the Election Commission will be met for free and fair assembly election in the state.
Omar Abdullah, who on Wednesday resigned as chief minister, indicated that his National Conference could play a part in government formation in Jammu and Kashmir after the election threw up a hung assembly.
Amid the coronavirus scare, Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju inaugurated the Khelo India's first Winter Games chapter in Jammu and Kashmir's Gulmarg town on Saturday. This comes amid calls from Srinagar Mayor Junaid Mattu seeking cancellation of the event.
Mufti Mohammad Sayeed will be sworn-in as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir for the second time on Sunday heading the Peoples Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition government.
Mehbooba said Article 370 was a bridge between the Union and the state.
The new PDP chief will have to work hard to keep everyone in the state happy.
Opposition National Conference on Wednesday accused the state government of discriminating against the Kashmir Valley over the distribution of power sector funds as they disrupted the proceedings of the Assembly, forcing the Speaker to marshal them out and adjourn the House for 10 minutes.
Malik at another event on Saturday had said had he "looked to Delhi", he would have had to install a government led by Sajad Lone.
He accused the Apni Party, led by former People's Democratic Party leader Altaf Bukhari, and the union territory administration of using coercive tactics to buy loyalties of newly elected DDC members.
Congratulating Narendra Modi for his party's landslide victory in Lok Sabha polls, Peoples Democratic Party patriarch Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said he was hopeful the new BJP government would take tangible steps in finding a lasting solution to the Kashmir problem.
The PDP patron is understood to have agreed to the talks, which are aimed at easing the widening rift between the two coalition partners.
A group of terrorists struck the house of PDP Kishtwar district president and escaped with the service rifle of his PSO early Friday.
During a debate on Kashmir situation, Ganai said Burhan was a "martyr" and that he had "given up his life for the cause of Jammu and Kashmir".
Here's the chronological list of all major terror attacks on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir in the last two decades.
PDP leader Abdul Nasser Madani, an accused in the 2008 Bangalore blasts case, on Monday submitted in a Bangalore court that the entire case against him was "based on suspicion and politically motivated".
