Senior National Conference leader and former J&K Speaker Mubarak Gul was on Saturday sworn in as the Pro-tem Speaker of the Assembly by Lt Governor, Manoj Sinha at the Raj Bhawan here.

An official statement said Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and other senior NC leaders were present at the ceremony.

Gul will remain Pro-tem Speaker till elections are held for the new Speaker.

A Raj Bhavan communication had said yesterday that the Lt Governor, exercising powers conferred upon him under Section 24 of the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, has appointed Gul to the post to administer oath/affirmation to the newly elected legislators.

Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday condemned the killing of a non-local by terrorists in Shopian district.

Omar said on his X on Friday, “Very sorry to hear about the death of Ashok Chouhan at the hands of militants in South Kashmir. These attacks are abhorrent & must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. I send my condolences to the family & loved ones of the deceased."

On Friday, police recovered the bullet-riddled dead body of a Bihar resident identified as Ashok Chouhan in Wanduna village of Zainpora area in Shopian district.

“The body was sent for completion of medico-legal formalities. A case has been registered in this incident and an investigation is underway,” police said.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders on Friday hailed the Delhi court’s decision to grant bail in a money laundering case to former health minister and party colleague Satyendar Jain and called it a victory of truth.

“Finally, truth has triumphed,” said Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha in a post in Hindi on his social media handle on X, welcoming the end of the two-year incarceration of the former health minister.

Thanking the judiciary for offering relief to Jain, Chadha wrote, “Satyendar Jain is the father of health revolution in Delhi. He is the force behind providing free health services in world-class hospitals and creating mohalla clinics.”

Former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia also welcomed the bail granted to Jain. “His house was raided four times but no evidence against him was found. He was kept behind bars in a fake PMLA case. Lies and baseless allegations were used to imprison Satyendar Jain for so long,” said Sisodia in a post in Hindi on social media platform X.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has announced its seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Jharkhand Assembly elections to be held in two phases. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will contest 68 seats, while its key allies, AJSU Party, Janata Dal-United (JDU), and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) (LJP), have been allotted 10, 2, and 1 seats respectively.

The details were revealed during a joint press conference held here at the BJP's state office on Friday.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Jharkhand BJP President Babulal Marandi, and AJSU Party President Sudesh Mahto were among the leaders present at the press meet.

On the recommendations of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Jammu & Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha has assigned portfolios to five ministers of the Union Territory.

An order issued from Raj Bhavan, Srinagar said: “In pursuance of Rule 4 (2) of the Transaction of Business of the Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir Rules, 2019, LG Sinha assigned the charge to various ministers."

Surinder Kumar Choudhary, Deputy Chief Minister, will handle Public Works (R&B), Industries & Commerce, Mining, Labour & Employment, and Skill Development.

Sakeena Masood Itoo will manage Health & Medical Education, School Education, Higher Education, and Social Welfare.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday issued notification for the first phase of Assembly elections in Jharkhand, marking the beginning of the nomination process.

In the first phase, elections will be held in 43 Assembly constituencies.

Candidates can now submit their nomination papers both offline and online. Nomination papers will be accepted at the Returning Officer's (RO) office between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

A maximum of four persons, including the candidate, can enter the RO chamber. If the candidate belongs to a registered party, only one voter is required to propose their candidacy. However, independent candidates and those from non-recognised political parties will need ten proposers.

The Jammu & Kashmir Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has passed the resolution for restoration of statehood.

Official sources said that during its first meeting on Thursday, the J&K Cabinet passed a resolution urging the Central government to restore statehood.

“The draft of the resolution has been prepared and the Chief Minister will travel to New Delhi in a couple of days to hand over the draft of the resolution to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to restore statehood to J&K,” sources said.

The meeting was presided over by the Chief Minister and was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary and ministers Sakeena Masood Itoo, Javed Ahmad Rana, Javaid Ahmad Dar and Satish Sharma.

Kerala Congress has planned and is targeting the ‘biggest win’ for Priyanka Gandhi in the ensuing Wayanad bypolls in Kerala.

“We will make sure that Priyanka must win with a margin of five lakhs, which will be the biggest win and better than Rahul Gandhi’s 2019 winning margin of 4.60 lakhs,” veteran Congress leader and Kasargod MP Rajmohan Unnithan told IANS.

Unnithan, known for his firebrand speeches, said that the five lakh margin is easily achievable given the current political scenario in Kerala.

“The Pinarayi Vijayan government is struggling because of its misdeeds while the BJP has lost its face after the Wayanad landslides even after PM Modi visited the area,” said the veteran Congressman.

Rahul Gandhi vacated the Wayanad seat after he also won the Raebareli Lok Sabah in the 2024 general elections.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday appointed three party leaders as All India Congress Committee (AICC) Senior Coordinators for the upcoming two-phase Assembly elections in Jharkhand.

In a statement, the Congress mentioned that party President Mallikarjun Kharge has appointed B.K. Hariprasad, Gaurav Gogoi and Mohan Markam as AICC Senior Coordinators for the Assembly polls in Jharkhand for which voting will be held on November 13 and November 20.

There are a total of 81 seats in the Jharkhand Assembly.

The state is going to the polls against the backdrop of Chief Minister Hemant Soren walking out of jail to retain his CM position again.

Soren was jailed in connection with a money laundering case pertaining to a land scam matter.

Himachal Pradesh Health Minister Dhani Ram Shandil on Wednesday called on Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda and Union Women and Child Development Minister Annapurna Devi in New Delhi and sought the Central government’s support for various schemes, keeping in mind the interests of the hill state.

He urged Nadda to provide sufficient funds for expanding and strengthening healthcare facilities at the Dr Radha Krishnan Government Medical College at Hamirpur, the Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar Government Medical College at Nahan, the Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru Government Medical College at Chamba, and Dr Rajender Prasad Government Medical College at Tanda.

He also requested the central assistance for the purchase of modern medical equipment.