Elections

For the last more than two decades, almost everybody is accusing National Conference of resorting to rigging to retain power. Riyaz Ul Khaliq talks...

As demand for Union Territory status continues to emerge from Buddhist dominated Leh district of Ladakh region, almost all political parties are using it...

Mohammad Sultan Bhat (May 27, 1945 – August 13, 1996) A Jama’at-e-Islami (JeI) worker since he was 15 years old, Mohammad Sultan Bhat had contested assembly elections...

As J&K’s opposition parties are hoping the anti-incumbency against the ruling coalition and a possible Modi factor will help them become powerful, NC and...

Ghulam Mohammad Mir (September 21, 1949 - December 16, 1993) A man, who jumped into politics, contested an election unsuccessfully and was eventually killed as a...

As Kashmir assembly begins its stormy budget session, the opposition is united in disorder. The objective is to have some impact on Chief Minister’s...

At least a dozen seats were won by BJP, independents and Apni Part because of the infighting within PAGD and its failure to take...

Everybody in J&K politics aspires to be the Chief Minister. It is not only because it is the ultimate what the politics can offer...

Six politicians from J&K will join the Indian parliament this week. Eighty four have been elected in the last 14 parliamentary elections. Forget about...

The first phase of Lok Sabha polls witnessed 34 per cent plus participation but ended with a teenager’s killing. As the dance of democracy...

With the Lok Sabha polls taking place soon after Ramzan, the Muslim month of fasting, the political class is witnessing activity after a long...

Mohammad Ismail Bhat (1945 - October 5, 1994) When Jama’at-e-Islami (JeI) finally decided to fight 1987 elections as part of Muslim United Front (MUF), there were...

As Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) entered poll fray in 2008 assembly elections, the Amarnath land controversy had polarized voters in Jammu. The Hindutva card was the best this right wing party could have played. BJP played the card and grabbed 11 seats in J&K’s legislative assembly.
Leelekaran Sharma, who led the Amarnath Sanghrash Samiti during protests in Jammu, Kathua and Samba districts of the state, entered Parliament election fray on a BJP ticket hoping to cash on the polarization once again. But the land controversy had already boiled down and Sharma was shooting his foot by joining politics.
Before the elections, Leelakaran had publicly announced that his mission was completely apolitical. By jumping into elections, he was actually making his intensions of a career in politics clear. This annoyed many voters who had earlier seen a selfless leader in Sharma.

As voters in down south are exhibiting a rare indifference towards their right to vote, the political parties are using individual efforts to get...