A turnout of about 59 percent -- the highest in the past seven elections -- was recorded in the first phase of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, Chief Electoral Officer P K Pole said, adding polling passed off peacefully.
While six of them have been held from Punjab, five were nabbed from neighbouring Haryana, and one from Uttar Pradesh.
'I am worried that Pakistan will still feel compelled to take substantive military action beyond this apparent drone activity.' 'If so, the crisis could persist for a while more and dangerous days are still ahead.'
Here are 10 important quotes from the PM's televised address:
'We cannot endanger our national security by indulging in false bravado, fake narratives and high-decibel whitewashing. As a nation, we have to collectively fight the scourge of cross-border terrorism'
Saddam, a businessman, is the eldest among the two siblings. He has studied in England. Sofiya Nabi Azad, his sister, has studied journalism.
The PDP looks a distant third in the race, observes Mohammed Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir politics.
The Army cancelled the event "due to implementation of the Model Code of Conduct".
Campaigning for the first phase of the five-phased assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir is in full swing as the top leaders of various political parties are criss-crossing 15 constituencies which will go to polls later this month.
Terrorists struck at two places in Kashmir on Saturday night, killing a former sarpanch in Shopian and injuring a tourist couple from Rajasthan in Anantnag, two days ahead of Lok Sabha elections in Baramulla.
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.
"So, there was no infiltration of any Afghani Taliban... To that effect, we have been able to control (things)," he said.
Once people throw out the Congress, they do not let it come back. They put 'no entry' boards for the Congress, he said. It always thought power was its birthright but it has now been exposed, the prime minister said
He asserted that the concept of 'one flag, one prime minister, one Constitution' was not a political slogan and the Bharatiya Janata Party firmly believes in the principle and finally implemented it with regard to Jammu and Kashmir.
'The so-called separatists are representatives of Pakistan. They get paid from Islamabad for propagating that country's policy and conniving in her ploy of accession of Kashmir to Pakistan.'
The President congratulated the people of Jammu and Kashmir for the high voter turnout recorded in the union territory in the recent Lok Sabha elections and lauded the Election Commission for holding the world's biggest democratic exercise.
Kumar also hinted that the Maharashtra elections could be held after Diwali.
'Americans have their fingers in so many pies. For it to be focussed on Kashmir would be perhaps impossible,' says Omar Abdullah.
'The wave of terrorism is over in Kashmir. Local people do not support it.'
'There is a trust deficit between Delhi and Srinagar. It is there even today.'
The attacks against the Pakistani air force have taken them at least five years back and caused great damage to them and their Chinese and Turkish inventory of weapons.
Referring to Abdullah's comments, Saamana claimed that Congress actively contributed to AAP's defeat in at least 14 seats in Delhi, which could have been avoided.
'If, as happened in Baramulla during the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the youth in the Valley get triggered enough to jump into the wider fray, the end result would be difficult to predict, especially as the state's post-August 5, 2019 political format remains substantially fragmented and foggy,' points out Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs.
The change in Anantnag's demographic after delimitation has added layers of political complexities to the constituency with Pahari-Gujjar, Jammu versus Kashmir dimensions.
The BJP's victory in the Delhi Assembly elections has sparked speculation over who will lead the next government. Several prominent leaders, including Pravesh Verma, Ashish Sood, Pawan Sharma, Vijender Gupta, and Satish Upadhyay, are in the running for the chief minister's post. The party's national leadership is expected to make the final decision, leaving the contenders in a state of anticipation.
The high table might have yielded relief at personal levels, but its political implications look forbidding at this point in time, observes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the passage of bills as a "momentous occasion" in parliamentary democracy and said a new dawn awaits the people there as they are now free from the "shackles" of vested interest groups.
'Nothing has been removed or added to my Twitter profile. The profile is as it was earlier'
'There will be no change of seats for Delhi, Assam and Maharashtra.' 'Andhra, J&K, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, West Bengal and Telangana will lose seats while there will be an increase for MP, UP, Bihar, Haryana, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh.' 'It is a big mistake if you make it a north-south issue.'
'Unfortunately, India and Pakistan could learn a 'lesson' from this conflict that will make them more likely to use these weapons against each other in the future.' 'Rounds of missile and drone attacks could be more routine features of their hostility, just like artillery fire has become a familiar fact of life along the Line of Control.'
The disputed region witnessed clashes on Saturday between the police and activists of a rights movement, leaving at least one police official dead and injuring over 100 people, mostly policemen.
'If democracy does not exist, if there are no political spaces, there is no media, there is no civil society, what do we rejoice?'
The governor requested the political leaders to ask their supporters to maintain calm and not believe exaggerated and unfounded rumours being circulated all around.
Asked if the party would approach the court for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's statehood, the NC leader said, "I do not want to get into that right now."
The sectarian killings by hit-and-run groups have revived and sharpened communal fears among the victims while the Poonch encounter reveals how deep the terrorists have dug in without getting noticed in the porous border area, notes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
Jammu divisional commissioner Sanjeev Verma said that these leaders were never detained and were free to participate in political activities.
Terrorism decreased, corruption and dynastic politics ended and an era of peace, development, prosperity started on August 5, 2019, said Shah as he reached out to the youths in the Valley urging them to stand up to disruptive elements and become ambassadors of peace.
'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
'There is a sustainable level of residual terrorism that will be difficult to handle as long as Pakistani support and safe havens are available.'
