Congress is "very sure" that if the regional parties - a part of the opposition INDIA bloc - continue with the aim for which the alliance was formed, "we will succeed", Karra said, adding that the grand old party is open to ally with any party whose like-minded.

The Srinagar Meteorological Centre has forecasted intense rain at various locations on August 19 and 20 too.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Zone, Vidhi Kumar Birdi, who was at the site of the encounter at Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir where terrorists had recently exchanged fire with security forces, leading to the death of two soldiers and a civilian, noted the complexities of the terrain and said there was reason to suspect that three to four terrorists were present in the area.

The encounter follows a larger anti-terror operation that began last Tuesday in the Khaned and Basantgarh Police Station areas.

The union minister stated, "Today marks five years since the historic abrogation of Article 370 and 35A under PM Narendra Modi Ji's leadership. This transformative decision has ushered in a new era of empowerment for marginalised sections and strengthened grassroots democracy in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh".

Money has poured into infrastructure development, healthcare initiatives have improved and tourism has received a big boost, but terrorism and unemployment are matters of concern  

The division bench issued the notice after hearing the counsel for the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Forum, an NGO.

During the visit ECI officials will meetDistrict Election Officers (DEOs), political party representatives, and other stakeholders from both the Jammu and Kashmir divisions, among others.

While interacting with youth from the city, National Conference Provincial Joint Secretary Ankush Abrol ssured them that the NC would leave no stone unturned for their cause. “NC has always worked for the youth, and its past governance in J&K is a testament to that,” he said.

This package aims to reduce the fiscal deficit to GDP ratio of the state to 3 per cent in 2024-25. This is part of the overall Central assistance of ₹67,133 crore for the fiscal year, compared to ₹55,000 crore in the previous year.

"The people of Jammu have always withstood terror, and I have full faith in the bravery of our jawans. The way the commanders of all the outfits were wiped out from here (Kashmir), our security forces and army will soon succeed in getting rid of them there (in Jammu region)," he said.

The programme will cover various Assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir from August 5 to 14, just ahead of the Assembly elections