The party delegation is on a two-day visit to Kashmir to attend a series of meetings on the current situation in the valley.
Union ministers Ravneet Singh Bittu and George Kurian were elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha Tuesday along with senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi and former minister Upendra Kushwaha.
A senior police officer was on Wednesday transferred and attached with police headquarters, a step that followed an outcry over halting of fruit-laden trucks from Kashmir valley to outside markets.
The former bureaucrat, who was a close aide of Sayeed, wondered how a party with just 16 members could "blackmail" Gandhi on government formation.
'Aggravated fears about the fate of Article 370 and Article 35A of the Constitution have reopened old wounds and laid bare the widening emotional distance between Srinagar and New Delhi,' says Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
If the concerns over risking political capital are overcome, the long-term gains for the Indian economy will be immense, asserts A K Bhattacharya.
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Thursday expressed his support for Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who has been criticised for his inability to control the spiraling violence in the state.
'We repent our decision today as we feel we betrayed our (Congress) party, while the DAP betrayed us'
It is often alleged that half the Indian Army is based in J&K. It is bewildering why there has been no rebuttal or clarification of this issue from the central or state governments, or from the army itself, wonders Ajai Shukla.
Sanjay Singh claimed that the veteran wrestlers who have been protesting do not want junior wrestlers to progress
The delegation is expected to meet a cross section of people, individuals and organisations in its efforts to bring peace in the Valley.
Those who believe in Kashmiriyat, insaniyat and jamhooriyat are welcome to talk, he said.
India has said that the onus is on Pakistan to create an environment free of terror and hostility.
The former Congress president is currently on a tour of Ladakh -- his first since the region was made a Union territory after being carved out of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019 -- and is likely to visit Kargil next week.
Mufti said the fundamental rights enshrined in the Indian Constitution and guaranteed to all Indian citizens "are being brazenly impinged upon".
Founder of Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party Prof Bhim Singh passed away in Jammu on Tuesday after being unwell for about a month. He was 81.
'Civilian casualties are something that could change the mood overnight, and therefore should be avoided by every means.'
The EU ambassador to India hoped the principle of equality will be upheld in the CAB. He also said that Pak must take action against terror groups.
Masoodi said all the participants are against giving voting rights to non-locals as "it will be tantamount to the disenfranchisement of the local voters."
'Worryingly, intelligence assessments indicate that growing disaffection amongst the youth is ceding ground to fundamentalist Islamist groups like Islamic State,' reports Ajai Shukla.
The chain of events set off by 'August 9, 1953' has swept away many illusions, demolished quite a few landmarks and woven an altogether new tapestry of the Centre-state relationship, says Mohammad Sayeed Malik.
'My chants in praise of BJP and RSS stalwarts were a reaction to what MPs like Owaisi did.'
From steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal to billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal's Airtel, Anil Agarwal's Vedanta, ITC, Mahindra and Mahindra, and a lesser-known Future Gaming and Hotel Services were among the prominent buyers of the now-scrapped electoral bonds for making political donations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in all-party meeting on Jammu and Kashmir, on Wednesday said that his government is fully committed to the 'democratic process' in the region and holding the assembly elections is a priority, sources said.
Hitting back at Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah for his dynastic politics jibe, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday termed it as "hypocrisy," saying the party should first "lecture" its friends in Maharashtra and Punjab.
Facing criticism from social media and political quarters for holding a 'Free Kashmir' poster during the 'Occupy Gateway' protest against violence at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Mehak Prabhu, a Mumbai-based storyteller, on Tuesday clarified that she meant to highlight the restrictions imposed in Jammu and Kashmir and wished to see peace in the region and added that there was no other motive behind her actions.
Rejecting Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's warning, the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said it would go head with its proposed 'Tiranga Yatra' from Kolkata to Kashmir on Wednesday.
'Why should I as a common man not know where my parents are in Kashmir, how they are doing. It is my right,' student Mohammed Aleem Syed, who moved the Supreme Court to be allowed to visit Kashmir, tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Cricket climate change to medical practice, dropped candidates have their non-political life sorted.
He said the then prime minister Manmohan Singh had given a speech in which he had said Muslims have the first right to the country's resources.
"The timing of the attack, methodology and location are all eerily similar to attacks in the border belt of Jammu," said Abdullah.
Over 60 per cent voter turnout was recorded on Monday in 49 constituencies in six states and two Union territories in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections, with Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir recording its highest-ever voting percentage.
"Through dialogue, our (Kashmir) issue will also be resolved. War is not a solution," National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said.
National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah said notifying the rules for the CAA days before the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections shows the Bharatiya Janata Party is not confident about winning 400 seats in the ensuing polls.
Making a fresh demand for a result-oriented dialogue, the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front on Monday demanded setting up of Kashmir committees in India and Pakistan to find an everlasting solution to the Kashmir issue.
Social activist Amit Koul, who was part of the delegation, said they have invited Gandhi to their Jagti township along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway and that he is likely to visit the community on his way to Kashmir.
Modi has proven to be a past master in the art of political survival. This means that learning to navigate the choppy waters of coalition government will be an art he will not take long to master, argues Shyam Parekh.
Last week's heavy snowfall seems to have affected electioneering in Kashmir. South Kashmir's Anantnag and the prestigious Srinagar constituencies go to polls on April 24 and April 30 in the five phased Lok Sabha polls in the state.
Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) MPs, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party chief Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, staged a protest in Parliament premises on Wednesday over the alleged discrimination against opposition-ruled states in the Union Budget.
'Why India is not holding a plebiscite in Kashmir? What are they (government) afraid of?, he said in an event.
