Earlier, only Azad was scheduled to meet Sonia Gandhi.
Azad was always a reluctant chief minister; coping with the swine flu scare might make him yearn for his former job.
Besides Azad, two PDP and one BJP candidate won.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said he was proud of the manner in which the multi-party delegations presented India's views in various countries on the need to eradicate the menace of terrorism following the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor.
Ghulam Nabi Azad, in his first public meeting in Jammu after quitting Congress, announced to launch his own political outfit that will focus on the restoration of full statehood.
On the eve of his imprisonment last month defiant Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai said that charges leveled against him for being a ISI agent have been withdrawn. Aziz Haniffa reports
Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced on Friday that another constituent of the separatist amalgam Hurriyat Conference, the Jammu and Kashmir Mass Movement, has rejected secessionism and declared complete commitment to the unity of the country. This marks the 12th Hurriyat-linked organization to break off from separatism and reaffirm their trust in the Indian Constitution. Shah attributed this trend to the unifying policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, which he believes has "tossed" separatism out of Jammu and Kashmir.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi Tuesday appointed former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad as the party's campaign committee chief in the union territory, but he declined the offer.
Union health minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad on Tuesday filed his nomination papers for the Udhampur-Doda parliamentary constituency.
Sources close to the top BJP leadership tell me that Tharoor has already had secret meetings with the BJP's top brass and is waiting patiently to make his next move, reports Ramesh Menon.
The opposition party, however, said the four eminent Congress MPs and leaders who have been included at the instance of the Modi government will, of course, go with the delegations and make their contributions.
Pak abetting terrorism in J&K: Ghulam Nabi Azad
Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that two more constituents of the Jammu and Kashmir-based Hurriyat Conference, J&K Tahreeqi Isteqlal and J&K Tahreek-I-Istiqamat, have abandoned separatism and pledged allegiance to the new India envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This development follows similar declarations from the Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement (JKPM) and the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Political Movement (JKDPM) on Tuesday. Shah stated that under Modi's leadership, separatism is on the decline and the unity of India is growing stronger in Kashmir.
The diplomatic exercise aimed at presenting India's stance against Pakistan on terror comes in the wake of Operation Sindoor -- the Indian offensive against terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed.
The Congress on Sunday said it was not stopping anyone from being part of diplomatic delegations to be sent to various countries following Operation Sindoor and that its leaders who have been named at the instance of the government must listen to their conscience and contribute to the exercise.
Days before the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam, intelligence agencies had flagged the potential targeting of tourists especially those staying in hotels on the outskirts of Srinagar in the foothills of the Zabarwan range, officials in the know said Saturday.
'It is high time that the 'war on terror' is removed from our diplomatic toolbox.' 'Certainly, our parliamentarians have no role in it,' asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
He had tried to visit the state after the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status but was sent back from the airport by authorities.
Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is contesting first election of his political career, was up for a surprise on Thursday as he was asked by a polling officer in Jammu to prove his identity to cast vote after the senior Congress leader failed to furnish his voter card.
Addressing a series of election rallies in support of his party's candidates in Jammu on the last day of campaigning, Azad voiced concerns over the promises made by various political parties regarding the return of Article 370 and said these promises are not grounded in reality.
"I have decided to return the award. The minorities in the country are feeling unsafe and threatened. They feel their future is bleak," Khayal said.
He laid stress on workers' connection with the ground and cited his own example when he was party in-charge for various assembly elections in the past.
Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad Thursday advocated shifting border residents of Samba district to safer places in view of travails they had to face during the recent heavy cross-border firing and shelling.He was on an extensive visit to border areas of Samba district to assess the situation arisen due to recent firing from Pakistan.
Kashmiri separatist leader Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai was released early from a minimum-security penitentiary, thanks to a surprising motion moved by the prosecution.
Former deputy chief minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig was among the 24 candidates in Baramulla constituency whose deposits were forfeited.
After spending nearly 50 years in a colonial bungalow at 24, Akbar Road, the Congress moved into a new office on January 15. Rasheed Kidwai, who knows the history of the Congress better than the Congress, looks back at the people who breathed life into this address.
There was more to him than he let on, asserts Aditi Phadnis.
The Union government has ordered the complete withdrawal of the counter-terrorist commando force NSG from VIP security duties and handing over its nine "high-risk" VIPs to the CRPF by next month, official sources said Wednesday.
Karra, who became the J&K Congress chief last Friday replacing Vikar Rasool Wani, said a call is already there for all secular parties who are opposed to the "hegemonic attitude" of the BJP to unite.
Striking an emotional chord with the people of Jammu and Kashmir, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Thursday said he considers himself their soldier in New Delhi, and added his doors are always open for party workers -- 'the lions of the Congress'.
The Congress and the National Conference on Monday announced they will fight the Lok Sabha polls in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, in alliance, with both parties contesting three seats each.
The agency, in its affidavit filed in response to Navlakha's plea, also claimed that he had 'committed acts that had a direct impact on the national security, unity and sovereignty'.
Incidentally, 164 of the total 356 candidates in the fray from the 43 assembly seats of Jammu region got less votes than none of the above, which gives an option to voters to reject all candidates in a constituency.
The panel may recommend amending at last five articles of the Constitution to enable holding of simultaneous polls in the country.
The change in Anantnag's demographic after delimitation has added layers of political complexities to the constituency with Pahari-Gujjar, Jammu versus Kashmir dimensions.
Asserting that religion should not used to get political mileage, Azad said whoever takes refuge in religion in politics is weak.
The Opposition party also attacked Azad, saying "Mr. GNA himself gives new evidence of his DNA mutation by saying 'those opposing Article 370 abrogation ignorant of the situation on the ground'."
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