Although Omar Abdullah has survived as Jammu and Kashmir chief minister he has been unable to govern, People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti tells Sheela Bhatt in an exclusive interview.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday clinched a stunning hat-trick win in Haryana overcoming anti-incumbency and dashing Congress' hopes of a comeback while the National Conference-Congress combine pulled off a spectacular victory in maiden elections in Jammu and Kashmir after abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
An enraged Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah questioned the media for raking up only the case of hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and said law would take its own course.
Heavy rains across India have led to widespread flooding, causing damage to infrastructure, displacement of residents, and disruption of normal life. Rescue efforts are underway in affected areas.
'Right now, we have no relationship with Pakistan. And the relationship with China is not great.'
'It is sad and unfortunate. But we have to accept it'
The casualties were reported hours before India and Pakistan agreed to end hostilities, which soared after the Indian Armed Forces hit terror launchpads in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir earlier this week in response to the Pahalgam attack.
The depiction of hijackers of the Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu to Delhi has kicked off a row with a section of viewers objecting to the 'humane' projection of the perpetrators.
Rejecting Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's warning, the youth wing of Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday said no one could stop them from hoisting the national flag at Srinagar's Lal Chowk on Republic Day.
A two-member team of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) met Rohingya Muslims at a slum in Jammu amid a heated debate whether the illegally settled immigrants be provided water and electricity.
"We saw missiles in the sky and heard bombs in our neighbourhood... We were petrified," said MBBS student Mir Khalif, his voice still trembling with fear, as he stepped out of the Delhi airport after being evacuated from war-hit Iran under Operation Sindhu.
Heavy Pakistani shelling in the border district of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir left nine people dead and 28 injured. The shelling, described by residents and officials as "barbaric and cowardly", started around 2 am, damaging dozens of residential houses, shops, vehicles, and heritage sites. The incident comes after India launched "Operation Sindoor" in retaliation to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. India condemned the act, calling it a cowardly attack on civilians, and reaffirmed that civilian safety remains its top priority.
Jammu and Kashmir Minister of State for Home Sajjad Ahmad Kitchloo submitted his resignation to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday over communal violence in Kishtwar that claimed three lives.
The first phase of polling, held on September 18, saw an estimated 61.38 per cent voter turnout, while the final phase is set to take place on October 1 in the crucial elections being held after 10 years.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday lambasted a particular category of the national leadership for 'discriminating' against the state.
Normal life was thrown out of gear in Kashmir on Saturday as most areas of the valley received snowfall, disrupting flight and railway operations and also leading to the closure of the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, officials said.
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.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, scheduled to participate in the India Today Conclave, has expressed surprise after a chartered plane was provided to AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal to attend the event.
National Conference general secretary and former minister Ali Mohammed Sagar, who wields a support base in downtown city, was served with a PSA notice public order by the authorities.
After the Congress' shock defeat in Haryana, the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties flexed their muscles on Wednesday, accusing the grand old party of ignoring them.
The administration of the union territory as directed by the Jammu and Kashmir high court to make public land given under the controversial Roshni land scheme, since scrapped by a court, came out with the list of beneficiaries.
The PDP looks a distant third in the race, observes Mohammed Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir politics.
Two soldiers who were critically wounded in Thursday's terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Gulmarg succumbed to their injuries, raising the death toll in the ambush to four.
Lashing out at Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, Rashid on Wednesday alleged that they have "destroyed" Kashmir.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Friday slammed the government for invoking the Public Safety Act against former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah and said detention without charges is the worst abomination in a democracy.
Mehbooba lashed out Omar for his tweets but the former CM hit back, saying it was to make her accountable and he won't back down from speaking on issues of public interest.
Over 2.5 million voters will decide the fate of 239 candidates in the fray for 26 Jammu and Kashmir assembly seats in the second phase of the election to be held in the Union territory on Wednesday.
The Delhi High Court has ordered Jammu and Kashmir MP Abdul Rashid Sheikh, alias Engineer Rashid, to deposit Rs 4 lakh with the prison authorities as travel expenses for attending Parliament. The court allowed Rashid to attend the ongoing Parliament session "in-custody" till April 4, but the NIA had raised concerns about him being a flight risk. Rashid has been lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail since 2019 after the NIA arrested him in a 2017 terror-funding case.
The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly unanimously passed a resolution on Monday expressing shock and anguish over the Pahalgam terrorist attack and resolved to fight resolutely to defeat the nefarious designs to disturb communal harmony and hinder progress.
Hours after, however, firing from the Pakistani side was reported in Akhnoor sector in Jammu and Kashmir. Drones were also seen in the Pir Panjal area.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the damages in the state due the worst floods in more than a century would run into "many thousands of crores" but he would approach the Centre only after the final assessment is complete.
"I cannot say whether the crisis has been averted," Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Thursday about the tussle with his coalition partner, the Congress, over the creation of new administrative units in the state.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who had reservations against the holding of assembly polls in the state soon, on Saturday said there was no question of not contesting the elections and "we will put our best foot forward."
The results of assembly elections in the Kashmir Valley have culminated in a significant rejection of separatist candidates, including those from Engineer Rashid-led Awami Ittehad Party and Jamaat-e-Islami, who failed to make a meaningful impact in the polls.
The statement comes after political leaders, including former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, claimed they were put under house arrest.
INDIA bloc parties are set to raise issues such as the Pahalgam attack, US President Trump's claims of brokering a ceasefire, and concerns over electoral roll revisions in Bihar during the Parliament's Monsoon session.
Those familiar with intricate Kashmir politics do not rule out further delay in the assembly elections. Primarily, because the BJP having 'invested' so much for so long in Kashmir would try its best to wait a little longer if only to secure the 'gains' it believes to have achieved after its deafening action on August 5, 2019, points out Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs.
Ganderbal was once the bastion of the Abdullah family but this time around, the electoral battle in this north Kashmir assembly constituency is being fought sans the Abdullah's.
The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said such efforts have lost credibility as there has hardly been any follow-up after similar visits in the past.
