Legislating, first time
Some 30 first-timers made it to the legislative assembly in 2008. Hamidullah Dar talks to some of them about their maiden experiences in the...
Leelakaran dumped
While election results in Kashmir were surprising, Jammu parliamentary constituency shocked one and all. But the underlying reasons are not hard to find. Majid Maqbool reports.
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.
The Passage to India
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...
Turnout makes everyone happy
From over 1.65 million voters, when around 300 thousand came out and voted on Thursday, the polling pattern made both sides– the government and...
Election’s moral battles
Parliament elections in J&K would have been a low key affair, but for two decisions by Election Commission of India – one pertaining to...
