These are the top stories from the northern region at 8.30 pm

These are the top stories from the northern region at 8.30 pm DEL33-JK-2NDLD ZAKIR Al-Qaeda affiliate chief Zakir Musa killed in encounter; protests in parts of Kashmir Srinagar: In a "major success", security forces killed the chief of an Al-Qaeda affiliate in Kashmir, Zakir Rashid Bhat alias Zakir Musa, in an encounter at a village in south Kashmir's Tral on Friday, officials said.

ELX63-JK-FAROOQ-MODI Modi cannot remove Article 370, 35-A from J&K: Farooq Abdullah Jammu: National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah said on Friday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot remove Article 35-A and Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir.

ELN101-UP-ALLIANCE BSP-SP alliance: United they fall in UP Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party came off worse than its coalition partner BSP as the caste arithmetic by the "gathbandhan" in Uttar Pradesh failed before a BJP wave in the Lok Sabha elections.

ELX73-UP-MUSLIMS Only six UP Muslim candidates make it to Lok Sabha Lucknow: Only six Muslim candidates have made it to the Lok Sabha from Uttar Pradesh, a state where the community forms nearly 20 per cent of the population.

ELX98-UP-HEMA-VOTE SHARE Hema Malini retains Mathura; gets 96,000 more votes this LS poll Mathura (UP), May 24 (PTI) Actor Hema Malini managed to retain her Lok Sabha seat by a margin of 2,93,471 votes this general election, polling over 96,000 more votes than the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

ELX97-HR-SECURITY DEPOSITS Of 223 candidates in Haryana, 203 lose their security deposits Chandigarh: The ruling BJP not only swept all the 10 seats in Haryana, but it inflicted a heavy defeat on the opposition candidates as 203 aspirants lost their security deposits.

ELX82-UKD-CONG-RAWAT Cong's high-profile losers in U'khand Dehradun: Senior Congress leaders Harish Rawat and Pritam Singh who lost from Nainital and Tehri Lok Sabha seats, respectively were the two most high-profile disappointments for the party in Uttarakhand.

ELX56-PB-CONG-PERFORMANCE Cong candidates fared poorly on assembly seats held by ministers, MLAs Chandigarh: Congress candidates on five Lok Sabha seats in Punjab "fared poorly" in some of the assembly segments represented by ministers including Manpreet Singh Badal, Aruna Chaudhary and some MLAs.

ELX87-HP-CONG LEADERS Differences resurface between Himachal Congress leaders Shimla: Differences between former chief minister Virbhadra Singh and ex-state Congress president Sukhvinder Sukhu resurfaced after the party's worst-ever performance in Lok Sabha elections in the state

DES8-HP-CABINET EXPANSION Cabinet expansion after consultation with central leaders: HP CM Shimla: The Cabinet expansion in Himachal Pradesh will be done after consultation with the central BJP leaders, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said on Friday.