-
2 months ago | 
kashmirobserver.net | Riyaz Wani
When Chief Minister Omar Abdullah delivered his address during the prime minister Narendra Modi’s inauguration of Z-Morh tunnel on January 13, the contrast with the late chief minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed‘s speech during PM Modi’s visit in 2015 couldn’t have been starker. Mufti then sought an Indo-Pak dialogue and resurrection of Vajpayee-Musharraf peace process, and Omar sought restoration of statehood to the now union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
-
Jan 10, 2025 | 
kashmirobserver.net | Riyaz Wani
When former prime minister Manmohan Singh visited Jammu and Kashmir in September 2017 as the head of a Congress delegation, he evoked some nostalgia about his tenure, a period during which a solution to the Kashmir issue had seemed within reach. Singh went about his activities in his familiar inconspicuous way. He chose to only listen and not issue any statement, nor talk to the media.
-
Dec 31, 2024 | 
kashmirobserver.net | Riyaz Wani
Every late December as we wait for the new year to usher in, it is also the time to reflect on the outgoing year and hope for the best for the following year. We are at that moment now. Both individually and collectively. However, while our individual lives are personal, collective lives are public. And it is mostly about our collective lives that we reflect back on in our everyday conversations, on social and mainstream media.
-
Dec 17, 2024 | 
kashmirobserver.net | Riyaz Wani
Six months after spectacularly denying the BJP a near-certain absolute majority in the parliamentary polls, the INDIA bloc seems to have once again been relegated to the background. More so the Congress that yet again seems to have lost the will to fight. Three successive defeats in Assembly elections in J&K, Haryana and the all-important Maharashtra have effectively reversed the gains the party had made in the parliament polls.
-
Nov 27, 2024 | 
kashmirobserver.net | Riyaz Wani
The Mahayuti alliance’s triumph in Maharashtra has brought the BJP back on the national scene, and how. Winning Maharashtra is no small feat. More so, when the BJP-led coalition was the incumbent and had been formed after splitting Shiv Sena. Just four months ago in parliamentary elections, Mahayuti had lost a majority of seats in the state to the INDIA Alliance. But the exact opposite has happened now. Why and how are questions that are being fervently debated.
-
Oct 28, 2024 | 
kashmirobserver.net | Riyaz Wani
Contrary to expectations, the newly elected NC-Congress coalition has started on a positive note: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has reached out to the central government and sought to establish a working relationship, in an apparent bid to prioritize governance over politics. But how long will this honeymoon last is anybody’s guess. Omar’s first priority is the restoration of statehood and to this end, the cabinet led by him passed a resolution as its first order of business.
-
Oct 16, 2024 | 
kashmirobserver.net | Riyaz Wani
The National Conference has regained its dominant role in Kashmir politics by securing 42 seats, or 46 when including the independents who joined. However, the number falls way short of the 57 seats the party secured in 1996 giving it an absolute majority in J&K, which enabled it to pass an autonomy resolution in 1999. This time, the mandate is largely Valley-centric and the context too has transformed beyond recognition.
-
Oct 9, 2024 | 
newslaundry.com | Riyaz Wani
The Jammu and Kashmir poll results have set the stage for a National Conference-Congress government, with Omar Abdullah’s likely return as the chief minister, and the end of a decade-long hiatus for an elected government in the erstwhile state. To many, the results may seem to be along expected lines. But they were far from it. Most importantly, there was no fractured mandate in Kashmir despite the entry of many political actors.
-
Sep 30, 2024 | 
kashmirobserver.net | Riyaz Wani
As we head into the third and final phase of the election, the elections seem by and large evenly placed among the major political parties – although the NC and the BJP seem to have a distinct edge over others. More so, the BJP which operates in a less crowded electoral scene in Jammu division, with the Congress its only major competitor. However, unlike in the past, the Congress campaign in the region has been muted. It almost seems that the party is fighting to lose Jammu to the BJP.
-
Sep 30, 2024 | 
htsyndication.com | Riyaz Wani
Srinagar, Sept. 30 -- This already has the ally National Conference worried. The NC leader Omar Abdullah wants the Congress to focus more on Jammu to make up for the perceived lost ground in the region. But it is already too late for that. Congress is fighting 32 seats in Jammu including four of the five friendly contests with the NC. It is contesting just nine seats in Kashmir Valley. But the party's national heavy weights haven't campaigned in the region as proactively as was needed.
