J&K Set For 1st Rajya Sabha Polls, National Conference, BJP In Key Contest

The first Rajya Sabha polls since Jammu and Kashmir's downgrading to a Union territory status are scheduled for Friday with political observers anticipating three seats for the ruling National Conference (NC) and one for the BJP, provided their strategies remain on course.

The elections for the four Rajya Sabha seats in J-K have been divided into three notifications.

Chowdhury Mohammed Ramzan of the NC is in a direct contest with Ali Mohammed Mir of the BJP in one of the seats.

For the second seat, NC's Sajjad Kitchloo will fight against Rakesh Mahajan of the BJP. The third notification will see a contest for two seats in which the NC has fielded party treasurer G S Oberoi, also known as Shammi Oberoi, and Imran Nabi Dar against BJP's Sat Sharma.

The NC on Thursday issued a whip to all its MLAs to ensure their presence for casting votes in favour of the party candidates.

Going by numbers, the 41-member strong NC, which has the backing of the six Congress and one CPM MLAs, and six Independents, is likely to sail through in three seats.

The contest for the final seat is razor-thin.

The Assembly has a strength of 88 MLAs out of which the NC-led ruling coalition has 54.

The BJP, with 28 Assembly members, strategically named its Jammu and Kashmir unit chief Sat Sharma in the third notification.

Sharma has already got a crucial edge after the Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference (JKPC) led by Sajad Gani Lone, an erstwhile ally of the BJP-PDP government, last week announced that his party will abstain from the Rajya Sabha elections.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday expressed confidence that his party will win all four seats but deep down, he would also know that it would require every non-BJP vote to be cast in favour of NC candidates.

Congress legislators did not attend a key meeting of allies convened by the NC on Wednesday, two days ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls.

Abdullah also sought to play down the absence of Congress, saying every party follows its own procedure.

"They (Congress) have their own process. There is a difference between their party and ours. Their leadership has to wait for the signal of their high command, while we take our decisions here. This is not something new, and no one should have any problems with it," Abdullah told reporters.

Asked if Congress' abstention will hurt the chances of NC candidates in the Rajya Sabha polls, Abdullah said as far as the elections are concerned, the national party has regularly maintained that it will not support the BJP, nor will it allow the saffron party to win.

"So, let them have their meetings, no one should have any objection to that. The signal from the (Congress) high command will not be such that will help the BJP," he added.

Abdullah also said he is thankful to CPM leader M Y Tarigami and Independents for attending the meeting.

"The enthusiasm I see in my members and those with us, I am hopeful that the NC candidates will emerge winners on all four seats," he said.

Asked if the opposition PDP was ready to support the NC candidates, Abdullah said while PDP president Mehbooba Mufti has not made any announcement, she has assured that a right decision will be taken after consulting her party colleagues.

"One of our candidates, Shammi Oberoi, met Mehbooba Mufti and requested her on behalf of the party to vote in favour of the NC to make our candidates successful. First, our president (Farooq Abdullah) had dialled Mehbooba.

"While the PDP has not announced anything, she (Mehbooba Mufti) has told Farooq Abdullah as well as Oberoi that she will discuss the matter with her party colleagues and take a right decision," he said.

The Union territory, with four Rajya Sabha seats, had remained unrepresented in the Upper House since February 15, 2021, the day when Ghulam Nabi Azad and Nazir Ahmed Laway completed their terms.

Two other members -- Fayaz Ahmed Mir and Shamsheer Singh Manhas -- completed their terms on February 10 the same year.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)