Separatist-called shutdown temporarily suspends Amarnath Yatra
Jammu, Aug 5: Authorities on Sunday decided to temporarily suspend the ongoing Amarnath Yatra from Jammu to the cave shrine in the Kashmir Valley for two days due to a separatist-called protest shutdown.
The complete protest shutdown in the Valley was called to support Article 35A that gives special powers to the state legislature. According to the police, no pilgrim was allowed to move from the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas here.
Special check-posts have been set up in Udhampur and Ramban to ensure that the movement of pilgrims does not take place on the Jammu-Srinagar highway which passes through these two districts.
However, pilgrims camped at the Baltal and Pahalgam base camps in the Valley will continue to perform the Yatra, officials said.
Since the annual pilgrimage began on June 28, over 2.71 lakh pilgrims have performed it so far. The Yatra will end on August 26 coinciding with the Shravan Purnima festival.
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Maharashtra polls: Nominations of 7,994 candidates across 288 assembly seats found valid
Mumbai (PTI): The nomination papers of 7,994 candidates filed across the 288 assembly constituencies in Maharashtra, where polling will take place on November 20, were found valid after scrutiny, election officials have said.
On the other hand, the nomination papers of 921 candidates were found invalid, the office of the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said in a statement on Thursday.
The process of filing nominations by candidates began on October 22 and ended on October 29.
The papers submitted by contestants were scrutinised on October 30, while the last date for withdrawal of candidatures is November 4.
Polling for the 288-member state assembly will be held on November 20 and results will be declared on November 23.
The ruling Mahayuti alliance, consisting of the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP, and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), are the main contenders for power though smaller parties and independents are also in the poll fray.
