With almost all opposition parties too backing the 'Bharat bandh' and many announcing parallel protests in support of the farmers, the Centre has issued an advisory directing the states and Union Territories to tighten security and ensure peace is maintained.
'The root of the Kashmir problem lies in Partition. To solve the issue, we have to begin from there and settle it forever.'
The Minister assured the House that security requirement of the Election Commission will be met for free and fair assembly election in the state.
Gandhi also took a potshot at the RSS, saying it was bent on changing the country's Constitution.
This is the fifth time that Nitish will be the chief minister of Bihar and this will be his third consecutive term.
The Congress-led grouping has some reasons to feel emboldened over recent political developments.
Political observers say Banerjee is fast emerging as the face of the Opposition and would be a force to reckon with in the next general elections in 2019.
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.
Shah said that the people of the country will decide about the principal opposition party to BJP in the 2024 polls and they have not given this label to any party.
The suspended Rajya Sabha parliamentarians, who spent the night on the lawns near Mahatma Gandhi's statue in what several old-timers said was the first such overnight protest in the complex, got a surprise visitor in the morning -- Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh who came with tea and snacks.
'Knowing him personally, I can safely say that the usually soft-spoken, qualified medical doctor would not have said what he was 'caught' saying if only he had realised that he was stepping on a political landmine across the emotional LoC, says Mohammad Sayeed Malik.
Officials said there was no discussion on constituting a delimitation commission.
Mamata Banerjee was on Friday sworn in as the chief minister of West Bengal for the second consecutive time, heading a 42-member ministry.
'When those who took oath in the name of the Indian Constitution are not acceptable, where do the other Kashmiris stand?'
'1998-1999 was the only year in the last quarter century that India had net-negative foreign investment.' 'Foreign money ran away from India that year because capital is a coward and does not like uncertainty of the sort produced by such casual treatment of a destructive technology,' says Aakar Patel.
Most of the parties supported 'one nation one election', says defence minister Rajnath Singh.
'Being authoritative is one thing -- Nehru was that -- but being authoritarian is quite another -- the current prime minister is clearly one.'
The year 2015 was a mixed bag for the Grand Old party --with the performance in Bihar being a consolation while the the National Herald case came back to haunt its leadership.
Rahul Gandhi on Thursday conceded the words he had chosen to trash the ordinance on convicted lawmakers might have been wrong but not his sentiment.
In an interview to ANI, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke on various issues, including the Balakot air strikes to the status of Kashmir to the party's manifesto.
'Some of his decisions were not so good, but his intentions were always guided by a deep national interest.'
The Opposition is putting up a symbolic fight for the presidential polls as it knows that the BJP has the numbers to get its candidate elected to the top post.
President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President Hamid Ansari, Union ministers, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and various other top leaders have condoled Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's demise and paid glowing tributes to her.
'As of now, this one move seems to have precariously altered the balance of forces on the volatile ground, between separatists and the mainstream. 'The landscape today presents a fearsome picture of the future of mainstream politics in Kashmir. 'Conversely, the separatist ideology looks to have got an unearned boost,' points out Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs
On August 5, the Narendra Modi-led government abrogated Article 370, which gave the state of Kashmir special powers, and decided to transform the state into two Union Territories -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Since then phone networks have been cut off and curfew-like restrictions have been imposed, leaving residents in a state of despair. On September 29, Union Home Minister Amit Shah attacked the Opposition for spreading "misinformation" about Kashmir. There were no "restrictions", he said -- they were "only in your mind". Sixty one days later, this is what normalcy looks like in the former state, particularly the Kashmir Valley.
"The people, who were in power earlier, now are suddenly taking U-turn. They are making such statements shamelessly," he added.
Possibly for the first time since Prime Minister Indira Gandhi called upon the nation to donate/sacrifice for the 'Bangladesh war' efforts, and also suffer blackout at nights with patience and pride, has the nation reacted so very positively to the government's diktat, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'It is the impression in Kashmir that if ever a realistic resolution of the problem/dispute is sought to be seriously attempted by New Delhi, the BJP is the best bet,' says Mohammed Sayeed Malik, the distinguished observer on Kashmir.
Biju Janata Dal members had staged a walk-out while NDA ally Shiv Sena did not participate in the voting.
Desolate streets with security personnel and a communications lockdown has left the Valley cut off from the world.
This is the first meeting chaired by Gandhi after relinquishing the post of Congress president last year.
PDP will ask the Centre for Geelani's passport on humanitarian grounds to visit his ailing daughter in Saudi Arabia
The central government has no plans "as of now" to hold talks with separatist groups of Jammu and Kashmir, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday.
What happened in Uttarakhand is a national tragedy. Why couldn't Dr Manmohan Singh announce that he was forming an Uttarakhand Relief and Rehabilitation Committee, with himself as chairman but inviting Narendra Modi to become the deputy chairman, asks T V R Shenoy.
However, it is immediately not clear whether the relaxation will be given fully or partially.
"We intend to talk to individuals and groups who want peace and normalcy in Kashmir Valley," Home Minister Rajnath Singh said before the departure of delegation comprising 30 members from 20 parties.
'Jaitley was one of the earliest politicians to sense the changing political scenario in Delhi. He had closely watched the rise of the BJP and declining fortunes of the Congress party during the L K Advani era. But it was between 2009 and 2014 as the Leader of the Opposition that he began to read the tea leaves. 'And thus it was that he introduced Modi-Amit Shah duo to Lutyens Delhi,' says senior journalist R Rajagopalan who had known Jaitley since 1975.
'This generation has seen no communication.' 'You have not given them any stake.' 'They don't have a feeling of belonging.' 'They have only seen a man in uniform with a gun.' 'That is why it is taking a more vicious form today -- the attacks on the security forces and the retaliation is causing heavy loss of lives.'
Many in Kashmir believe he needs to stop talking so much. But they are wrong, says Aditi Phadnis. J&K's governor is intelligent enough to know what to say when.
'This is a long haul, god knows where it will end.' 'So it is best to conserve all the funds right now for fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.'
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