Jammu, Nov 22:  A Pakistani drone was sighted over a forward village along the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir’s Samba district, officials said on Saturday.

The drone, which was seen coming from the Chak Bhura post in Pakistan late Friday, hovered over Regal village in the Ghagwal area for a few minutes before returning to other side the border, the officials said.

Security forces have searched the area to ensure that there was no airdropping of any payload such as narcotics or weapons, they said.

Jammu, Nov 21: Newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Nagrota, Devyani Rana and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) MLA from Budgam, Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi on Friday took the oath of office at the J&K Legislature complex in the winter capital.

Speaker, Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly (LA), Abdul Rahim Rather administered the oath to them.

Devyani took the oath in Dogri while Muntazir Mehdi took the oath in Urdu.

Senior BJP leaders, including MP Rajya Sabha and J&K president Sat Sharma; Leader of Opposition, Sunil Kumar Sharma; MLAs Sham Lal Sharma, Vikram Randhawa, besides others, accompanied Devyani, while PDP MLA Waheed-Ur-Rehman Para accompanied Muntazir Mehdi during the oath ceremony.

The members of the families of newly elected MLAs were also present on the occasion.

Devyani Rana, in her maiden electoral venture, registered a convincing win – with a margin of 24647 votes – in the by-election for Nagrota assembly segment, by defeating Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (I) candidate and former minister Harsh Dev Singh.

Devyani secured 42350 votes to retain the seat for her party and carry forward the profound legacy of her father and former BJP MLA Devender Singh Rana, while Harsh Dev bagged 17703 votes.

The Nagrota seat had fallen vacant due to the sudden demise of BJP MLA Devender Rana on October 31, 2024.

Muntazir Mehdi, in a historic verdict, won from the Budgam assembly segment by defeating National Conference candidate Aga Mehmood by a margin of 4478 votes. This was NC’s first defeat in the constituency.

After taking the oath, Devyani extended her gratitude to the entire party leadership, the BJP workers and the people of Nagrota for their blessings and overwhelming support to her. She also reiterated her commitment to serve the people of her constituency and the people of J&K tirelessly.

“I’m honoured and privileged to be sworn in as an MLA of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, taking the oath in Dogri, and to serve as a legislator. I want to thank Shri Mata Vaishno Deviji for her blessings. I am humbled by the mandate given to me by the Nagrota constituency and the love and affection showered upon me. I reiterate my humble commitment to serve the people of Nagrota and Jammu and Kashmir to the best of my abilities and live up to the expectations of the people and work tirelessly,” she stated in a post on her social media account.

Devyani asserted, “Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and BJP president J P Nadda, we will continue to work towards a ‘Viksit Jammu and Kashmir’ which has transformed due to the statesmanly outlook of the Prime Minister.”

She expressed her deepest gratitude to the J&K BJP president Sat Sharma; J&K BJP general secretary (organisation) Ashok Koul; LoP Sunil Sharma; in-charge Nagrota and MLA Sham Lal Sharma; co-incharge Nagrota and DDC Bharat Bhushan; MoS in PMO Dr Jitendra Singh; MP Jugal Kishore; MP Gulam Ali Khatana; MLA Bahu Vikram Randhawa, besides other party MLAs, Morcha and Mandal presidents, office bearers and luminaries for their support and guidance to her. She wound up her post with a tribute to her father with a slogan, “Jab Tak Sooraj Chaand Rahega, Rana Sahib Ka Naam Rahega.”

PDP MLA Muntazir Mehdi, after taking the oath, while speaking to media persons at the party office, said that he was thankful to the people of Budgam who reposed their faith in him and elected him as their representative.

“I hope that I’ll live up to their expectations. This is not my win but the win of PDP leaders, workers and above all, supporters spread across J&K. They toiled hard to make it possible. Some of them supported through their votes, while others boosted morale. They were able to convince the people that PDP was the one and only alternative available which could provide reprieve to them (people),” he said.

With regard to a question about NC’s allegation that Muntazir won because of support of Aga Syed Mehdi, PDP MLA said, “I find it laughable. In fact, NC has never treated Budgam with seriousness. Mandate in my favour was the decision of the Budgam people, who felt deceived by NC. This time, they decided to break the tradition to support NC. After their (NC’s) defeat, they made several such statements. The reason being NC is finding it difficult to accept its defeat. Hence, sometimes they accuse PDP of playing ‘B’ team to BJP or enjoying their (BJP’s) support.”

With regard to his priorities, he said that Budgam had remained marginalised in the past.

“We, as per our promise, will restore all basic amenities related to road, education and health, as are available in other parts of J&K, in Budgam. I’ll fulfill all my promises made to people, unlike NC, which, despite one-sided mandate, failed to fulfill even a single poll promise, be it 200 units of free electricity, 12 gas cylinders or political issues of Article 370 and above (rationalisation of) reservation.”

“Instead of fulfilling promises, the Chief Minister described people of J&K as “Bijli Chor” and “Zameen-Chor” (land-grabbers). We hope this people’s verdict will force the NC government to rethink its strategies and fulfill its promises,” Muntazir Mehdi said.

Responding to questions about the Chief Minister’s assertion during poll campaigning that Budgam people would benefit by electing an MLA belonging to the ruling party, PDP MLA said, “The Chief Minister, being guardian of the entire state, cannot impose these conditions that he will work for the people of a particular if they vote for him.”

“He is under oath to work for each and every citizen of J&K and every area without any discrimination. We will do everything desired to ensure that Budgam’s rights are restored. Budgam’s constitutional rights cannot be bound by any condition. We will approach every minister and will fight also, if needed, to ensure that Budgam people are not deprived of their basic rights,” he asserted.

Being in opposition, how will he make any difference for his people, in response to this question, Muntazir said, “In democracy, opposition is as important as is the government. We will keep on reminding the government of its promises made to people and will force it to fulfill them.”

Ramban, Nov 21: A double-storey residential structure was damaged after a massive fire broke out in the remote Zaradi Neel area of sub-division Ramsu in Ramban district on Friday.

Official sources stated that the fire erupted in a double-story residential house belonging to Mohammad Saleem Naike and Mohammad Ilyas Naike, sons of Abdul Qayoom resident of Zaradi Neel.

As soon as the fire broke out, locals, along with a team from Police Post Neel and Army personnel posted in the area, rushed to the spot and attempted to control the blaze using water and available fire extinguishers. However, the double-storey structure was completely gutted by the time the flames could be contained.

An adjoining house belonging to Adil also suffered partial damage, though timely efforts helped prevent the fire from spreading to other nearby houses situated in the cluster.

A fire tender from Fire and Emergency Station Banihal was later dispatched to the area. Due to the lack of road connectivity, it took additional time for firefighters to reach the spot with fire extinguishers.

Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Ramsu Mazahir Hussain, who, along with SDPO Banihal, visited the affected location, said that a residential house comprising two families was fully destroyed, while another nearby house sustained partial damage.

The officer said no loss of life or injury to anyone was reported in this fire incident.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Ramban Mohammad Alyas Khan has dispatched relief material for the affected families to Zaradi Neel.