Srinagar: 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.
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.
On Friday, the House will vote to elect four Rajya Sabha members from Jammu and Kashmir. The seats have been vacant since 2021 as the elections to the legislative Assembly were not held until last year.
While three NC candidates are expected to have a smooth sailing in view of the numbers in the current Assembly, the fourth seat will see a close contest between veteran BJP leader Sat Pal Sharma and young NC spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar.
Dar will need support from not only his party members but also from the opposition PDP, Awami Ittehad Party and AAP.
