Kathua (Dogri/Pahari/Hindi: कठुआ) is a city and a Municipal Council in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the largest city of the Kathua district. It is the third-largest city in the Duggardesh (Jammu) region and the sixth-largest in the state. The word "Kathua" is derived from the word "Thuan" in Dogri which means "Scorpios". The city was the land of Scorpios before the settling of the Dogras who arrived and made the city. Some believe that its name is derived from the name of Rishi Kashyap who disguised himself as a tortoise (kashua) for strong meditation.Kathua is also called 'the city of Sufis' owing to the presence of large number of Sufi Shrines of Peers.

Kathua is located at 32°22′N 75°31′E / 32.37°N 75.52°E / 32.37; 75.52. It has an average elevation of 307 metres (1,007 ft). Many parts of the district and the city itself lie on plains while the tehsils of Basoli and Billawar are very hilly. The Kandi region - the barren lowlands at shiwalik foothills constitute it. A gateway to the northernmost state of Jammu and Kashmir, Kathua lies just 88 kilometres south of the state's winter capital of Jammu. The city is situated along the banks of a khad (river) dividing it into two parts: Parliwand, meaning the other side; and Urliwand, meaning this side. Both parts are connected by three bridges.

Amit Shah (born 1964) is a Indian politician and former Home minister from Gujarat, member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is currently under judicial bail as one of the accused for kidnapping and encounter killing by the State Police of Sohrabuddin Shaikh, an alleged terrorist with more than 60 criminal cases against him, his wife Kauserbi and their friend Tulsiram Prajapati. The Supreme Court has directed that while his bail is under challenge, he is not permitted to enter his home state of Gujarat where he may influence the investigations as he was the Home Minister during the encounter killing. There has been questions raised about this Supreme Court ruling and if it was part of a Political witch hunt

Shah's father, Anilchandra Shah was a wealthy businessman. Shah worked as a stockbroker for some time. During this period he joined the BJP and came close to L K Advani. He managed several of Advani's election campaigns from the Gandhinagar (Lok Sabha constituency). He was then appointed Chairman of The Gujarat State Finance Corporation Limited, the youngest person in this post. He was later appointed chairman of the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank.

Narendra Damodardas Modi (Gujarati: નરેન્દ્ર મોદી; born 17 September 1950) is the current Chief Minister of the Indian state of Gujarat. Born in a middle class family in Vadnagar, he was the third of six children born to Damodardas Mulchand Modi and his wife Heeraben. He has been a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since childhood also having interest in politics since adolescence. He holds a master's degree in political science. In 1998, he was chosen by L. K. Advani, the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to direct the election campaign in Gujarat as well as Himachal Pradesh.

He became Chief Minister of Gujarat in October 2001, promoted to the office at a time when his predecessor Keshubhai Patel had resigned, following the defeat of BJP in the by-elections. His tenure as chief minister of Gujarat began on 7 October 2001, and he is the longest serving Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat. In July 2007 he became the longest serving Chief Minister in Gujarat's history when he had been in power for 2063 days continuously. He was elected again for a third term on 23 December 2007 in the state elections, which he had cast as a "referendum on his rule".

Arun Jaitley (Hindi:अरुण जेटली ) (born 28 December 1952) is a prominent Indian politician and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is currently the largest Opposition party in India. He is the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha and has previously served as the Union Minister for commerce, industry, law and justice of the Government of India.

He was born to Kishen and Ratan Prabha Jaitley. Born to a lawyer father, he did his schooling at St. Xavier's School, New Delhi from 1969-70.^{[citation needed]} He graduated in Commerce from Shri Ram College of Commerce, New Delhi in 1973. He passed his Law degree from the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, in 1977. During his career as a student, he was the recipient of several distinctions for his outstanding performances both in academics and extra curricular activities. He was President of the Students Union of Delhi University in 1974.

Jaitley was an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) student leader in the Delhi University Campus in the seventies and rose to be President of the University Students' Union in 1974. During the period of proclamation of Internal Emergency (1975–77) when civil liberties were suspended, he was under preventive detention for a period of 19 months. He was a prominent leader of a movement against corruption launched in the year 1973 by Raj Narain and Jai Prakash Narayan. He was the Convenor of the National Committee for Students and Youth organisation appointed by Jai Prakash Narayan. He was also active in civil rights movement and helped found PUCL Bulletin along with Satish Jha and Smitu Kothari. After being released from jail he joined Jan Sangh.

Captain Amarinder Singh (Punjabi: ਅਮਰਿੰਦਰ ਸਿੰਘ; born March 11, 1942). He served as the Chief Minister of Punjab from 2002 to 2007 and presently serves as the President of Punjab PCC. He is the titular Maharaja of Patiala.

Captain Singh is the son of Yadavindra Singh and Mohinder Kaur, former Maharaja of Patiala. He attended the Welham Boys' School and Lawrence School Sanawar and The Doon School,Dehradun. His children include Yuvraj Raninder Singh and Jai Inder Kaur. His wife Preneet Kaur, is an MP serving as Minister of State in the External Affairs Ministry.

He was commissioned in the Indian Army in June 1963 and resigned in early 1965. He rejoined the Army immediately because hostilities broke out with Pakistan and took part in the actual operations in war against Pakistan and again resigned after the war was over in early 1966.

Amarinder Singh was elected to the Lok Sabha on an Indian National Congress ticket in 1980. In 1984, he resigned from Parliament and from Congress as a protest against the Army entry in Darbar Sahib's complex in Operation Bluestar. He became convenor of the Sikh Forum and joined the Shiromani Akali Dal. He was elected to the state legislature and became a minister in the state government for Agriculture, Forest, Development and Panchayats.