'A country that hosts and even celebrates UNSC-sanctioned terrorists, commenting on India whose pluralistic ethos and democratic credentials are exemplars for the world, is a contrast for everyone to see'
Two more Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including a district president, submitted their resignations from the primary membership of the party on Saturday, citing their resentment against the choice of candidates in their constituencies for the assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
The leaders said the list of seats each party will be contesting, as well as the names of the candidates, will be issued later.
The attack, which claimed the lives of seven individuals, including a local doctor and two labourers from Bihar, has raised concerns about the unreported trend of local youths joining terrorist groups in Kashmir during this period.
Introducing the Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill, 2020, Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said it was a demand of the people of Jammu and Kashmir that the language they speak should be the official language.
National Conference leader Mohammed Akbar Lone on Tuesday filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court reiterating his oath as Lok Sabha MP, saying he will preserve and uphold the Constitution and protect the country's territorial integrity, an undertaking that irked the Centre which claimed it added "insult to injury to the nation".
The Supreme Court on Friday said it will take a decision on the early listing of petitions challenging the Centre's decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 which had given a special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
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.
The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday said it would consider a plea for early listing of petitions challenging the Centre's decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 which had given special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Ahead of counting of votes, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Monday said his party was open to the idea of taking support of Mehbooba Mufti's People's Democratic Party to form government in the Union territory.
Shah arrived in the evening and was received at the airport by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Union minister Jitendra Singh, among others.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday set aside the August 5 notification of the election department of the Union territory of Ladakh for the hill council polls and ordered issuance of a fresh election schedule within a week.
Twenty-nine of the 30 incumbent chief ministers are crorepatis with Andhra Pradesh's Jagan Mohan Reddy having the highest assets totalling Rs 510 crore, according to poll affidavits analysed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
Congress leaders were seen giving media bytes at various places at the headquarters, arguing that the trends would change by 1 PM but it did not happen.
A voter turnout of 69.69 percent was recorded in the third and final phase of voting Tuesday in the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the Election Commission said.
Additional solicitor general KM Nataraj, appearing for the Centre, told a bench of Justices SK Kaul and A Amanullah that responses were still awaited from Rajasthan and Telanagana.
The value of the vote of a member of Parliament has gone down to 700 from 708 in the presidential poll scheduled for July 18 due to the absence of a legislative assembly in Jammu and Kashmir.
"Our position on the entire Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir being an integral part of India is well known. We would urge the international community to respect our sovereignty and territorial integrity," Bagchi said when asked about Blome's visit.
Voting for this crucial phase, covering 40 assembly segments across seven districts -- Jammu, Udhampur, Samba and Kathua in the Jammu region and Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara in north Kashmir -- is scheduled for October 1.
A Pakistani intruder was also killed in the exchange of fire, they added.
While Jamaat cannot take part in the elections due to the ban imposed on it by the Union home ministry, it had shown interest in participating in the polls during the Lok Sabha elections if the ban were removed.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha's power to nominate five members to the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly was at the centre of a political and legal debate on the eve of vote count, with the Congress and regional parties the National Conference and the People's Democratic Party on Monday opposing any such move during government formation.
She said the encounter in Jammu's Sidhra area in the morning, where four terrorists were killed, belied the government claims of uprooting terrorism in J and K.
Congress leaders P Chidambaram and Abhishek Singhvi said the judgement of the Supreme Court in cases concerning the abrogation of Article 370 has decided many issues but has left some.
A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Election Commission and the government for holding early assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
The two women -- Seema Koul and Vishalni Koul -- had moved the high court in 2018 after their provisional selection to the post of legal assistant in the department of disaster management relief, rehabilitation and re-construction under the PM package for Kashmiri migrants in December 1, 2017 forfeited on the ground that they have lost their migrant status having married non-migrant persons.
Notwithstanding protests by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, he said the first session of the newly elected Jammu and Kashmir Assembly is "short in duration but historic in terms of agenda".
Voters include 8.4 crore men, 8.23 crore women and 11,371 from third gender. There are as many as 35.67 lakh first time voters, besides 3.51 crore young voters in the age group of 20-29 years.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge vowed to fight for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, asserting that he would remain active in politics until Prime Minister Narendra Modi is ousted from power.
The eight-phase DDC polls, which began on November 28, is also the first election after Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 was revoked last year and it was reorganised into a Union Territory.
other polls being held in the union territory, CEC Rajiv Kumar said.
Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha assured the newly elected legislative assembly on Monday that the Omar Abdullah government will make all efforts for the restoration of full statehood and constitutional guarantees available to the state.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Wednesday said the fresh revision of electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir does not disturb the schedule or conduct part of polls and the poll panel is aware that there is a "vacuum" in the Union territory which needs to be filled.
The fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections has so far registered a voter turnout of approximately 62.19 percent, 1.97 percentage points less than 2019.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey carried out a review and directed the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Electoral Officer to map the redrawn assembly constituencies.
Omar Abdullah will have to negotiate at every step with the lieutenant governor's office and the Modi government at the Centre.
In the present case, the legislative assembly of Jammu and Kashmir is yet to be constituted after the erstwhile state was bifurcated into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh in 2019.
Separately, the hunger strike by climate activist Sonam Wangchuk in Leh to "remind" the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre of its promise to safeguard the Union Territory's fragile ecology and unique indigenous tribal culture entered its 15th day.
Political parties and leaders wait with bated breath for the Haryana and Jammu-Kashmir assembly poll results on Tuesday.
'The Government of India should start a dialogue with the people of Ladakh, but the trouble is they are not willing to listen to our grievances.'
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