Srinagar, March 22 -- By Sunday evening, 10 March, the mood on Gupkar Road, Jammu and Kashmir's (J&K) power street and home to the Abdullahs, the Muftis, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mohammed Yusuf Tarigami and the governor Satya Pal Malik, had turned downbeat. Though Omar Abdullah was out in Delhi, probably negotiating a pre-poll alliance with the Congress, the other leaders were closeted with aides to discuss the shock decision of the Election Commission of India (ECI) deciding against holding the Lok Sabha and assembly elections simultaneously. Omar and Mehbooba Mufti, whose parties National Conference (NC) and People's Democratic Party (PDP), respectively, dominate Kashmir's unionist camp, were "fairly assured" the elections would be timely and si...