J&K Rajya Sabha Elections: Why the Polls Now and Who All Are the Key Candidates? The first Rajya Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir are set to take place on Friday since the region became a Union Territory. Political analysts expect the ruling National Conference (NC) to win three seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may secure one seat if its plans go as expected.
The elections for the four Rajya Sabha seats in J-K are being conducted through three separate official notifications.
Why the Polls Now?
The Rajya Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir are happening after four years because the Union Territory did not have a legislative assembly during this time. Jammu and Kashmir’s four Rajya Sabha seats have been vacant since 2021. Ghulam Nabi Azad and Nazir Ahmed Laway completed their terms on February 15, 2021, while Fayaz Ahmed Mir and Shamsheer Singh Manhas finished theirs on February 10, 2021.
After the former state was split into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir (with a legislature) and Ladakh (without a legislature), the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act stated that the four Rajya Sabha members of the old state would be considered as elected to the seats of the new Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Key Candidates for the Rajya Sabha Polls
National Conference has fielded Chowdhury Mohammed Ramzan in a direct contest with Ali Mohammed Mir of the BJP in one of the seats. NC’s Sajjad Kitchloo will fight against Rakesh Mahajan of the BJP in the second seat.
The third notification is for two Rajya Sabha seats. The National Conference (NC) has nominated its party treasurer, G S Oberoi, also called Shammi Oberoi, and Imran Nabi Dar. They will compete against the BJP’s candidate, Sat Sharma. For the four Rajya Sabha seats, the National Conference candidates will receive support from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Congress.
J&K Rajya Sabha Elections – Who all can Win?
The Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly has 90 seats, but currently only 88 MLAs are sitting because the Budgam and Nagrota seats are vacant. The NC-Congress alliance has 54 MLAs: 41 from the National Conference (NC), six from Congress, one from the CPM, and six Independents. The BJP has 28 seats, the PDP three, and the J&K Peoples Conference and Engineer Rashid’s Awami Ittehad Party have one seat each.
In the Rajya Sabha elections, a candidate needs about 45 votes to win one seat, and 29 votes per seat in a two-seat contest. Since the NC is the largest party, it is expected to win three of the four seats, while the BJP is likely to win one seat in the two-seat contest.
