Nitin Gadkari is the sole minister in the NDA cabinet who has not been moved since 2014, when he first joined the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH)

Two terrorists who opened fire in a village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district last evening had gone door-to-door asking for water, but the alert villagers shut the doors in their faces, the police said while sharing chilling details of the terror attack.

One of the terrorists was gunned down in an encounter that began overnight while a hunt for the second one has dragged into the morning. A paramilitary soldier was also killed in action.

The terrorists were first seen in the Saida Sukhal village of Hira Nagar late last evening, said Anand Jain, Additional Director General of Police, Jammu zone, who is supervising the anti-terrorist ops in Kathua.

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“They asked for water from a few houses to which villagers grew suspicious and slammed the doors on them and a few raised hue and cry. The terrorists panicked and fired randomly in the air and also at one odd villager who was passing by,” he said.

Security forces soon cordoned the area and engaged with the terrorists. One of the terrorists died while trying to throw a grenade at the cops, the top officer said, adding that houses are now being cleared one by one in search for the second terrorist.

Omkar Nath, a civilian who suffered injuries, and his wife have been evacuated to hospital, he said, denying reports that there were more casualties.

A second encounter is underway in Doda where an army base came under attack late last night. Sharing the details, Mr Jain said earlier this morning that terrorists opened fire at a joint party of police and Rashtriya Rifles at an army base in Chattargala area late last night. Five soldiers and a special police officer (SPO) were injured during the attack.

Jammu has been high on the terror radar with these attacks being reported from areas known to be free of terrorism.

Just two days before these two incidents, a bus with pilgrims had come under attack in Reasi and crashed into a gorge, killing nine and injuring 33 passengers. The attack was carried out on the directions of Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Abu Hamza, officials have said.

Actor-politician Pawan Kalyan took oath as a minister in Chandrababu’s Naidu cabinet today. Mr Naidu – who emerged as a kingmaker after the BJP fell short of the majority in Lok Sabha elections – has returned as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for the fourth time.

Also known as ‘Power Star’, Pawan Kalyan is likely to get the post of Deputy Chief Minister, it’s learnt.

Jana Sena Chief Pawan Kalyan played a key role in bringing the BJP and Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) together to take on the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party.

The tripartite alliance made a clean sweep by winning 164 Assembly seats. It also bagged 21 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats.

Pawan Kalyan had last month said he had to make sacrifices to make the alliance happen. “This is more about ‘strategic understanding’. The alliance was needed as liberty is at stake in Andhra Pradesh,” he had told NDTV.

Elections for the 175-member assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh were held on May 13.

Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress Party dominated both elections five years ago, winning 22 of the state’s 25 Lok Sabha seats and 151 of its 175 Assembly segments.

Pawan Kalyan is the younger brother of veteran actor Chiranjeevi. While campaigning for Pawan Kalyan, Chiranjeevi had endorsed him as a new-age politician, saying that he did films under compulsion, but willingly entered politics.

The power star’s Jana Sena has not been politically active, but the actor has a huge fan base, especially among the youth across the two Telugu states.

Pawan Kalyan, who made his electoral debut in 2019, took his own time to position himself in state politics. Often criticised over his “slow pace” as a”part-time” politician, Mr Kalyan had urged his supporters to give him five years.

The 52-year-old agreed to bring down the number of seats to a realistic level to ensure that the TDP-JSP-BJP alliance materialises to avoid a split of anti-YSRCP votes.

Poll Pundits say Pawan Kalyan displayed maturity in seat-sharing talks and played a significant role to ensure the allkiance takes shape.