New Delhi:
Voting will take place in 58 seats across seven states and one Union Territory in the sixth and penultimate phase of the Lok Sabha election today. Delhi and Haryana are voting in a single phase. For the seventh and last phase, 57 seats will be left.

Here are the Top 10 points in this big story:

Srinagar:

The redrawn electoral map of Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag constituency has come as a hurdle to political parties of Kashmir Valley.  The ongoing Lok Sabha election is the first major poll in Jammu and Kashmir since the scrapping of Article 370. The political parties busy grappling with the electoral map are now confronted with a new possibility — the deferment of election in the constituency.

In Anantnag-Rajouri, mountains have driven a wedge through the redrawn constituency, dividing its main portion from Rajouri and Poonch. In between lies Shopian district, which has been made part of the Srinagar parliamentary constituency, creating a complete geographical disconnect between one end of the Anantnag constituency and the other.

Elections in Anantnag-Rajouri constituency are due on May 7. But they could be deferred because of challenges in connectivity and weather conditions. The Mughal road, which connects the two ends of the constituency, has been closed due to snowfall and some parties have contended that campaigning is difficult under the circumstances. The BJP and some other groups have demanded that the election be deferred because of the closure of the Mughal road.

The Election Commission is likely to take a decision shortly. The Commission has asked the J&K administration to submit a report on whether the election needs to be rescheduled because of the connectivity issues.

The National Conference and the PDP claim that the weather and road connectivity are being used as an excuse to derail election process.

“The letter from the Election Commission to the J&K administration is intriguing,” said National Conference chief and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

Parties that have demanded deferment of election are not even contesting, he pointed out.

“The People’s Conference and the BJP are not contesting in Anantnag constituency. What do they have do with this election? They are proving that they are helping someone through the backdoor. If our views are ignored, it would mean that it is a well-planned conspiracy to fiddle with elections,” he added.

The BJP says it is not their fault if the road has been shut due to snowfall.

“The Mughal road is open. I have myself travelled by the Mughal road. What is this excuse to defer elections?” said People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti, who is contesting from Anantnag.

“Through delimitation, they have already rigged elections… Didn’t they know at the time of delimitation that unless a tunnel is built between the Valley and Pir Panjal commuting remains difficult for 6 months,” she added.

“There is bad weather, heavy snowfall, connectivity through Mughal road from Rajouri-Poonch to the Valley is closed… what’s the fault of BJP? There has been heavy snowfall on the Pir Panjal mountains,” said Ravinder Raina, chief of J&K BJP.

While 21 candidates are in fray in Anantnag, the contest is a triangular one between Mian Altaf Ahmad of National Conference, Mehbooba Mufti of PDP and J&K Apni Party, believed to be backed by the BJP. The Congress and CPM are supporting the National Conference, which is part of the opposition bloc INDIA.

New Delhi:

Well-trained terrorists, the challenging terrain, dense forests and now inclement weather have all played a role in the encounter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag stretching into the fourth day on Saturday. 

Three officers, Colonel Manpreet Singh and Major Aashish Dhonchak of the 19 Rashtriya Rifles and Deputy Superintendent Himayun Bhat of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, have been killed in action, a soldier is missing and at least two more personnel have been injured. 

The terrorists are hiding in a cave atop a hill in the Gadul forests of Kokernag, which affords them protection as well as complete visibility of the actions of the joint Army and police team that has surrounded them. The narrow path leading to the cave, which offers no cover and has a sheer drop on one side, is what had cost the three personnel their lives as the team began their first offensive in the early hours of Wednesday. 

Drones, rocket launchers and mortar shells have all been used, but the forces have not been able to achieve domination of the area yet. Officials say they are confident of neutralising the terrorists at the earliest. 

What has the establishment worried, however, is that this is one of three encounters in Jammu and Kashmir in five days and comes amid an uptick in terrorist activity in the Pir Panjal region, which covers the Poonch and Rajouri districts. Former Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police SP Vaid said the Anantnag encounter points to yet another change in strategy by terrorists and their backers in Pakistan.

Tough Terrain

Highly placed sources have told NDTV that the forces first got intelligence about terrorists hiding in the Gadul forests on Tuesday night and, on learning that they were atop a hill, a decision to attack was taken in the early hours of Wednesday. 

 “The path the forces have to take to get to the top of the hill is quite challenging. It is very narrow and there are mountains and a dense forest on one side and a deep ditch on the other. The personnel began the ascent in the night, and the darkness made it worse,” said a source. 

Seeing the forces ascend, the terrorists began firing at the personnel, who found themselves cornered. This is when the three officers were injured, but the limited options for extraction meant that they could not be taken to hospital until morning. 

Well-Stocked, Well-Trained

According to the sources, the terrorists have adequate stocks of arms, ammunition and even food, which is evidenced by the fact that they have managed to hold out for nearly 90 hours. They said the number of terrorists is also likely to be more than the two-three that is being mentioned in most reports. 

A recent Lashkar-e-Taiba recruit, Uzair Khan, is among the terrorists holed up in the cave. He is believed to know the area very well and the terrorists are benefiting from this. 

“Ordinary terrorists cannot stretch an encounter for so long. They are very well-trained and have good weapons. It is also possible that an informer may have double-crossed the forces or someone may have leaked their movements,” said a source. 

Rain, And A Fire

Bursts of heavy rain since Saturday morning have made the operation more difficult both by reducing visibility and by making it harder for drones to operate. A fire also broke out near the cave where the terrorists are hiding. 

‘Changing Strategy’

Two terrorists were gunned down in a two-day encounter in Rajouri district’s Narla area, which began on Tuesday, and three were killed in the Uri sector of Baramulla when they were attempting to cross into India from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The Army said Pakistani forces gave covering fire to help the terrorists cross the Line of Control and the gunfire from the other side also “interfered” with their efforts to retrieve the body of the third terrorist. 

The Baramulla encounter makes it the forces’ third brush with terrorists in just five days. 

On the encounter in Anantnag, former Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police SP Vaid told NDTV, “The operation in Anantnag is taking place in a hilly area and there is a 75-80 degree steep climb. There is a dense forest on one side and a ditch on the other. It is very difficult for our forces when the terrorists hide in such a place. The terrorists are at a height and the personnel become vulnerable to attack when they try to ascend.”

“This seems to be a new strategy. A similar thing was also seen in Rajouri-Poonch recently, where the terrorists chose a hilly and forested area to hide in. For some time now, I have been noticing  that the terrorists have been changing their strategy on the instructions of the Pakistani establishment,” he said.

Mr Vaid pointed out that when the Indian security forces began Operation All Out in 2017, thousands of terrorists were killed and they also began facing a shortage of AK-47s. He said there was a change in policy then and the terrorists started using pistols and small arms to target migrants, labourers and panchayat members in Kashmir in a bid to derail development. A spate of such incidents was seen last year. 

Seeking international attention?

“When the forces managed to control that, a new trend is visible now, which was seen in Rajouri-Poonch and now in nearby Anantnag. Unlike in the past, terrorists are avoiding inhabited areas, where they can be easily surrounded, and are now hiding in thick jungles and hilly areas. This helps them draw out the forces and harm them, and the terrain gives them a chance to escape,” the former top cop said. 

“They are trying to drag out encounters for three to four days so that they can get the international media’s attention as well. I think there has been a change in the strategy and we will have to be prepared for it,” he added.