The nomination papers of 35 candidates including that of jailed separatist Sarjan Barkati were on Wednesday rejected during scrutiny for the first phase of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, leaving 244 contestants in the fray.
'The intellectual A G Noorani and A G Noorani the family man sound like a contradiction in terms, but both aspects were integral parts of the individual.'
'Politicians can do symbolism by changing the names of places and museums.' 'Judges need not be seen to be craving for approval from the public.'
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com comes across a Ganesh temple in Kashmir's summer capital that remains a well kept secret.
In 2022 Nanaji Dembi pulled down the Hurriyat office board in Srinagar, an act of defiance that grabbed headlines. Despite such nationalistic bravado, the BJP has denied him a ticket for the assembly election.
'Party workers sit outside polling booths and they know everything that is happening.' 'Besides, as a voter when you push the EVM button to vote there is a paper slip that comes out showing you who you voted for.'
'Government cannot pick and choose as to against whom they want to take action and against whom they do not want to take action.'
'The reason I am not anxious about the opponent facing me in the front (Ajit Pawar) is because of who is standing behind me like a rock (Sharad Pawar).'
'In the case of a road accident, prevention is the only answer.' 'There's no cure to death or disability when the accident happens, and when it's due to reckless or negligent driving, it's worse because it's avoidable.'
Shaheed Maqbool Sherwani changed the course of Indian history forever, but himself lies forgotten in the town he saved.
Tral, the former hotbed of terrorism, rocks to the music of democracy.
It's a different Srinagar from what Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf encountered 24 years ago. Tourists throng the Kashmir Valley post-Article 370, azaadi appears dead, and everyone says one man is responsible for this change, so what if his poster is nowhere to be seen.
'Ladakh has become a hollow UT.' 'Bureaucrats from Delhi rule Ladakh and there is no attention paid to the grievances of the people.'
'The Abdullah family is the problem and facilitator of the instability that we are seeing in Kashmir.'
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com does a deep dive into four elections when Narendra Modi resorted to anti-Muslim fervour and points out that Hindu-Muslim politics does not necessarily mean victory for the BJP.
'Article 370 is now dug 70 feet deep in the ground. It cannot come out.'
'Ranbir Kapoor has only one film as does Salman Khan.' 'Hrithik Roshan only has War 2.' 'Ranveer Singh has no film on floors today.'
'I love to meet people.' 'I love that personal connect when they express their genuine, heartfelt feelings.'
'I want to ask the Congress only one question: What is more important than election management in politics?'
'I want to die with my finger on the click button of the camera,' veteran photographer Pradeep Bandekar, who passed into ages early on Sunday morning, told Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'We accept EVMs cannot be hacked because it is not connected, but can they be manipulated?' 'Are you allowing us to check if EVMs can be manipulated?'
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com tried to buy a house on his recent visit to Srinagar.
'The 2024 general elections proved that UP is not Gujarat.'
'The whole Kashmiri population is seemed to be a suspect community. This status is not good.'
'There is some deep rot that has set in the Congress party. This requires an organisational surgery.'
'If the country felt very strongly about the BJP, then why did the country not put money where the mouth is?'
'Who are Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti to issue certificates?'
'Congress leaders are ready to lose the election and not form the government, but are never ready to share seats with others.'
'...or go to jail.' 'The government is getting them silenced.'
'The BJP claims they have eight lakh cadres in the Kashmir Valley so why can't they contest elections from Kashmir?'
'I went to jail and met my father to convince him to join politics and believe in the Constitution.'
'Not disclosing information to the public indicates that there is something wrong with Project Cheetah.'
'The wave of terrorism is over in Kashmir. Local people do not support it.'
Cirkus is not getting good reviews but its *huge* cast is quite excited to see it on big screen anyway.
'Every Haryana assembly seat has its own unique problems to earn victory for a political party and you as a politician need to know what are those issues and tackle it.'
'Under this amendment, in any dispute over Waqf properties, the Waqf Board cannot approach the court.' 'This is very surprising because the government instead of protecting Waqf properties they are snatching it away and not allowing them to go to court.' 'The third biggest landowner in India is the Waqf Board after the Indian Army and Indian Railways.'
'Aspiring doctors have put in years of their lives to study in preparation for NEET exams as they start studies from Class 9 to get good marks.' 'And today, after the NEET paper leak, these students even after getting good marks are unable to get admission in any good medical college (because of inflated merit marks due to the paper leak).' 'They are thinking, was it worthwhile to study so hard for the examinations to become a doctor?'
'People have got into the habit of sitting at home (and watching films).' 'They don't want to watch movies in theatres because they do not want to waste as much as Rs 1,000 on tickets.' 'They feel there is no point in watching a film on the big screen because it will anyway come on OTT in a month's time.'
'...but subjecting our heritage to rigorous evidence-based understanding.'
'Rahul Gandhi is raising the issue of a caste census though his party has been doing injustice on this front from the 1950s.'
