J&K: National Conference to contest all 4 RS seats; ally Congress wants one

SRINAGAR: Governing National Conference (NC) has decided to contention each 4 Rajya Sabha seats successful Jammu and Kashmir, and is not successful a temper to concede adjacent 1 spot to state Congress.BJP, too, announced to contention each seats, which NC described arsenic “posturing”, and said the enactment would look decision similar it did successful assembly polls.J&K Congress president Tariq Hamid Karra told TOI that the party’s cardinal enactment would instrumentality a telephone connected Rajya Sabha elections successful J&K, but the UT portion had conveyed to it that the enactment should beryllium allotted astatine slightest 1 seat.Karra said though Congress has chosen not to articulation Omar Abdullah's authorities till J&K’s statehood is restored, the Rajya Sabha polls are different. “In J&K govt, we gave up ministerial positions for the larger extremity of statehood, but present we are talking astir practice successful the Upper House of Parliament astatine a clip erstwhile our law rights are inactive not guaranteed,” helium said.NC, however, is successful nary temper to assistance Congress’s demand. Party spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq told TOI the enactment would contention each seats and triumph comfortably. He added that BJP would “lose comfortably” if they entered the fray.On September 24, the

ECI

announced that polling for the 4 Rajya Sabha seats successful J&K would instrumentality spot connected October 24. All 4 seats person been vacant since 2021. That year, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Nazir Ahmed Laway had completed their presumption connected Feb 15, and Fayaz Ahmed Mir and Shamsheer Singh Manhas connected Feb 10.

CM Omar has been regularly voicing interest implicit the “undue delay” successful filling the RS vacancies.The existent spot of the 90-member J&K Assembly is 88, with NC holding 41 seats and enjoying the enactment of 5 of 7 independents. Congress has six MLAs and CPM has one, giving the NC-Congress confederation the backing of 53 members. Opposition BJP has 28 seats, portion PDP has three, and PC and AAP person 1 each. Two seats are vacant arsenic Omar, Omar vacated Budgam, choosing to clasp Ganderbal, portion BJP legislator Davinder Singh Rana, who represented Nagrota, passed away.