Women will have a decisive say as chairpersons in seven of Jammu and Kashmir's 20 districts.
The biggest electoral upset in the state was witnessed in Anantnag with National Conference candidate and former high court judge Hasnain Masoodi defeating former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.
People's Democratic Party patron Mufti Muhammad Sayeed on Monday called India a "banana republic" over Afzal Guru's family not being allowed to meet the Parliament attack convict before he was hanged, a day after Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said this was a "tragedy".
Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah engaged in a war of words on Twitter after the passage of the triple talaq bill in Rajya Sabha, with the latter stating that PDP leaders abstaining from voting "helped the government with the numbers needed to pass the bill."
Educational institutions, shops and business establishments remained closed across the Valley, while all kinds of transport remained off the roads due to the strike.
India and Pakistan have agreed to strictly observe all agreements on ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) and other sectors, according to a joint statement on Thursday.
The bench also asked Mehta how long the Centre proposes to extend the detention. The Supreme Court noted, detention cannot be for forever and "some via media" may be explored for this.
Private cars have come under stone-pelting at many places as the miscreants want to enforce shutdown.
The senior Congress spokesperson posted on Twitter that on many occasions in the past, he had "cautioned that the Kashmir issue or problem (or by whatever name it is called) was a festering wound".
The Karnataka high court on Thursday rejected the bail plea filed by Abdul Nasar Madani, an accused in the Bangalore blasts case. The leader of the People's Democratic Party from Kerala, who was picked up by the Bangalore police, had moved the high court to seek bail on various grounds.
The ruling National Conference on Sunday termed the opposition Peoples Democratic Party as "enemy number one" of the People of Jammu and Kashmir for the highest degree of corruption during its rule as Jammu and Kashmir became number two corrupt state after Bihar.
The BJP can only form a government if the PDP splits.
After the PDP-BJP government was sworn in, the two parties released its Common Minimum Programme, outlining its aims and objectives for the state.
The presidential nominee of the United Progressive Alliance, Pranab Mukherjee is set to have a rewarding visit to Jammu and Kashmir on July 15.
Before repeal of Article 370 and Article 35-A in August last year, non-residents could not buy any immovable property in Jammu and Kashmir. However, the fresh changes have paved the way for non-residents to buy land in the union territory.
Jammu and Kashmir's mainstream political parties, including the National Conference and the PDP, formed the Gupkar alliance on October 15 for restoration of special status of the erstwhile state and also to initiate a dialogue between all the stakeholders on the issue.
In the wake of notices issued to the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and several others by the State Accountability Commission, Opposition parties on Friday staged a protest and later walked out from the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly demanding a debate over the issue.
In a break from past, there was no function at the martyrs' graveyard in Srinagar after the government dropped July 13 from the list of gazetted holidays last year, officials said.
'Anybody who speaks up, anybody who reports something that the government feels uncomfortable with, or comments on anything could be charged with criminal cases, could be summoned to police stations, slapped around or grilled for several hours. This has become a new norm.'
Separatists and mainstream Peoples Democratic Party have been dismissive of the report submitted by Kashmir interlocutors to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram Wednesday.
Police on Saturday detained Opposition Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti as she was heading towards Shopian district where four persons were killed in CRPF firing last week.
Three opposition PDP legislators were suspended from Tuesday's proceeding of Jammu and Kashmir legislative council after they broke into the house demanding a discussion on the alleged custodial death of a National Conference worker.
Supporters of opposition Peoples Democratic Party member of legislative assembly Moulvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari on Tuesday staged a protest outside the assembly complex and demanded the resignation of Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone for allegedly using abusive language against the legislator.
People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti on Monday hit back at Home Minister P Chidambaram, who had warned the party of stern action over its controversial propaganda map.
Jammu and Kashmir does not have an elected dispensation since the Peoples Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition government fell apart in June 2018.
The opposition Peoples Democratic Party on Sunday announced its support to the United Progressive Alliance presidential nominee, Pranab Mukherjee.
'If the National Conference and PDP make handsome electoral gains in the valley and call for the restoration of the former state's lost status, how will the rulers in Delhi respond?' asks Amulya Ganguli.
The eight-phase DDC polls, which began on November 28, is also the first election after Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 was revoked last year and it was reorganised into a Union Territory.
'When the BJP came into existence no party used to support it. When NDA was formed many leaders who are now holding posts in the present government were not holding any posts then and some of them were not even born,' the editorial said.
Opposition leaders also raised the issue of MPs not being allowed to visit Jammu and Kashmir after abrogation of its special status, whereas parliamentarians from Europe have been taken to the state, with Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury describing the EU delegation as 'bhade ke tattu' (hirelings).
The elections to legislative assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Odisha will be held simultaneously along with the Lok Sabha polls
Among other things, the code bars the government from announcing policy decisions.
A group of several hundred people pelted stones at the house of PDP MP Nazir Ahmad Laway and injured two security guards, a police officer said.
'I am not afraid of BJP. I am not armed with lathi or stone, let them come to me and reply to my questions which they will not'
Clarifying her stand on alleged custodial death of a ruling National Conference activist, opposition Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday said that her party was not demanding the dismissal of the state government on the issue, but only stepping down of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his junior home minister Nasir Aslam Wani to enable a fair investigation.
Pandemonium hit the Jammu and Kashmir state assembly on Monday again as the speaker disallowed an adjournment motion moved by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party seeking a discussion on the alleged custodial death of a ruling National Conference worker in Srinagar last week.
While Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that he would present his case before the judicial inquiry ordered by the state government into mysterious death of Syed Mohammad Yousuf, a National Conference worker last week, People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti is unwilling to buy his theory.
The Jammu and Kashmir assembly was on Monday adjourned for the day following pandemonium after the speaker rejected an adjournment motion notice moved by Opposition Peoples Democratic Party demanding discussion on the death of a National Conference worker allegedly in police custody.
The Jammu and Kashmir government has rubbished allegations by the Opposition Peoples Democratic Party about the death of a worker of the ruling National Conference allegedly in police custody. PDP has demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Minister of State for Home Nasir Aslam Wani so that the "judicial probe can proceed impartially'.
The opposition Peoples Democratic Party has decided to vote in favour of the resolution seeking clemency for Afzal Guru to be tabled in the state assembly during its forthcoming short session beginning in Srinagar on Monday.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances