J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Mehbooba to contest from Anantnag
Srinagar, March 30
The PDP and the National Conference (NC) have set at rest speculation over their candidates for the three valley seats. All three seats of Srinagar, Anantnag and Baramula were represented by the NC in the last Lok Sabha, though the Anantnag seat had been won by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in the 1998 elections as a Congress candidate.

An Indian boy dressed as the Hindu god Lord Rama holds a bow and arrow during a religious procession on the occasion of Ram Navami in the northern Indian city of Jammu on Tuesday. Ram Navami is commemorated by Hindus across the India as the day when Lord Rama was born. — Reuters

Advani, Sonia leave J&K out of campaign itinerary
Jammu, March 30
Top leaders of the BJP and the Congress have kept Jammu and Kashmir out of their campaign itinerary. Mr L.K. Advani, Deputy Prime Minister, who started his “Bharat uday yatra” from Kanyakumari, terminated it at Amritsar.

Lashkar area chief, among 4 militants killed
Srinagar, March 30
The security forces gunned down four militants, including an area commander of the Lashkar-e-Toiba and busted three hideouts in Jammu and Kashmir during the past 24 hours, an official spokesman said today.

Mehbooba to contest from Anantnag
Tribune New Service

Srinagar, March 30
The PDP and the National Conference (NC) have set at rest speculation over their candidates for the three valley seats. All three seats of Srinagar, Anantnag and Baramula were represented by the NC in the last Lok Sabha, though the Anantnag seat had been won by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in the 1998 elections as a Congress candidate.

While the NC had already released its list of candidates, the PDP yesterday announced that its president, Ms Mehbooba Mufti, and the Ghulam Nabi Lone would be its candidates from the Anantnag and Srinagar constituencies, respectively.

This time, the PDP has fielded Ms Mehbooba Mufti from her home constituency of Anantnag. She had lost to Mr Omar Abdullah of the NC from the Srinagar constituency in the last elections. She will be contesting against Dr Mehboob Beigh of the NC.

Even as the Congress general secretary and state Congress chief, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, said there would a “friendly contest” between the Congress and PDP condidates in Baramula, it is going to be a tough fight for both Congress and the PDP candidates. Mr Nizamuddin Bhat, who remained associated with journalism for over a decade, filed his nomination papers for the Baramula constituency on Saturday.

Mr Abdul Rashid Shaheen of the NC will contest from north Kashmir, making it a three-cornered contest in the first phase on April 20.

Our Correspondent adds from Jammu: Kashmiri Pandits continue to be divided over their participation in the elections.

The Panun Kashmir, the All-State Kashmiri Pandit Conference, and the Panun Kashmir Movement will be boycotting the elections in protest against the “stepmotherly treatment” being meted to the community.

At the same time, several Pandits are not only keen to contest the elections, but also campaign for candidates belonging to various parties. Mr B.K. Khosla, head of the state wing of the All-India Kashmiri Samaj, has announced his plan of filing his nomination papers from any of the three constituencies in the valley.

The Election Commission has set up separate polling booths for migrants in Jammu and Delhi and has retained the postal ballot facility for them.

Advani, Sonia leave J&K out of campaign itinerary
Tribune New Service

Jammu, March 30
Top leaders of the BJP and the Congress have kept Jammu and Kashmir out of their campaign itinerary. Mr L.K. Advani, Deputy Prime Minister, who started his “Bharat uday yatra” from Kanyakumari, terminated it at Amritsar. Ms Sonia Gandhi, Congress President, too did not come here during her roadshow, although she visited Himachal Pradesh.

The parties have not attached much significance to Jammu division as it only has two Lok Sabha seats.

Local BJP and Congress leaders say that several other leaders of their parties would be visiting the state for electioneering.

Polling for the Jammu seat would be held in the first pahse on April 20. The VHP leader, Mr Parveen Togadia, will address a public meeting here on April 4.

The chairman of the Panthers Party, Mr Bhim Singh, today said that in the past, such tours were undertaken from Kashmir to Kanyakumari to symbolise that India was one, however, this time Mr Advani had kept Kashmir out of the yatra.

He said the Panthers Party would undertake an “insaaf yatra” from Srinagar to Amritsar where Mr Advani had terminated his tour. The yatra would begin on April 5 from Lal Chowk (Srinagar) and reach Amritsar on April 10.

Meanwhile, Mr Chaman Lal Gupta, Minister of State for Defence and BJP candidate for the Udhampur seat, today urged the Jammu State Morcha and the Jammu Mukti Morcha to campaign for the BJP candidates in Jammu and Udhampur.

Mr Mangat Ram Sharma, Deputy Chief Minister, said while the common man was reeling under price hike and unemployment, the BJP was raising the slogan of “India Shining”.

Lashkar area chief, among 4 militants killed

Srinagar, March 30
The security forces gunned down four militants, including an area commander of the Lashkar-e-Toiba and busted three hideouts in Jammu and Kashmir during the past 24 hours, an official spokesman said today.

He said an encounter took place between the militants and the security forces at Sanai village last evening during which three militants were killed.

Three AK rifles, nine megazines, two wireless sets, two pistols and Rs 10,000 were recovered from the slain militants. Three persons, including a woman, were injured when an explosive device went off in the fields at Banihal last night. The injured have been hospitalised, he said.

The security forces busted three hideouts at Phagla (Poonch), Saiot (Rajouri) and Dadwangam (Anantnag) during search operations last night. The arms and ammunition seized included five UBGL grenades, 20 pistol rounds, 16 grenades, two detonators and three magazines. However, no one had been arrested, he said.

Jammu: An Army personnel was killed and two were injured when the vehicle carrying them was blown-up by an improvised explosive device detonated by militants in Udhampur district, sources said on Tuesday.

The deceased has been identified as K.Mani. A militant belonging to the Hizbul Mujahideen was, meanwhile, shot dead by the security forces at Chatroo in Doda district on Monday. An SLR rifle with its magazines and a wireless set were recovered from his possession. — UNI, PTI

Breakaway Hurriyat leader arrested

Srinagar, March 30
The police has detained Ghulam Nabi Sumjhi, a leader of the breakaway Hurriyat Conference, under the Public Safety Act, official sources have said here.

Sumjhi was picked up by police from his Muslim Conference office in the Rajbagh area last night, the sources said.

He was detained by a police posse from the Bijbehara police station and later shifted to Central Jail here, they said.

Breakaway Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has termed the arrest of Sumjhi as “intimidating tactics” by the State Government to prevent his organisation from campaigning against the elections. — PTI