In a dramatic move, the PDP on Monday withdrew its support to an independent candidate and a former Congress minister Taj Mohiuddin minutes after the Apni Party also decided to back him in the Uri assembly constituency of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
Separatist leader Syed Salim Gilani on Sunday joined Mehbooba Mufti-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and is likely to contest the Assembly election from Srinagar's downtown Khanyar seat.
Mehbooba may keep herself away from contesting the upcoming elections in J&K.
This was the first meeting of the PAC after the defeat of Mehbooba on Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat and also the INDIA bloc disowning her party by refusing to assign her party even a single seat in the elections.
Engineer Rashid's lead of votes against Omar Abdullah has crossed one lakh as counting of votes was underway.
The Governor said that he would be inviting the leaders of different political parties to discuss their security concerns and how to address them so as to create a secure political and governance environment for one and all.
In March, when a high-level team of the Election Commission of India (ECI), led by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora, went to Srinagar for consultations with various political parties, state administration and other stakeholders ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the mainstream political parties had urged the team to order simultaneous elections for the state assembly and Lok Sabha.
Of the 18 candidates in the fray in Anantnag, prominent are Hasnain Masoodi (NC), Sofi Yousuf (BJP), Ghulam Ahmad Mir (Congress) and Mehbooba Mufti (PDP).
Mehbooba accused the Modi government of trying to break the economic backbone of people of Kashmir by suspending the cross-LoC trade with Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK) and also ordering twice a week restrictions on the movement of civilian traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar highway.
Incidents of stone pelting near polling stations were reported from various parts of Kulgam district but the situation remained under control due to the timely action of the security forces.
