Voting has begun for four Rajya Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir. Seven candidates are in the fray for the four seats. Four are from the National Conference and three from the BJP. The National Conference (NC) has the support of the PDP and Congress, making it a strong contender for three seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appears to be in the lead for the fourth seat.
All parties have issued whips, urging all members to vote. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah arrived at the Assembly premises to cast his vote.
Voting will continue until 4 pm, and the results will be declared after 5 pm. This election is being held after 10 years, making it the first Rajya Sabha election since 2019.
The outcome for the fourth seat is uncertain due to a reported 28-28 tie between the NC and the BJP.
Also Read: Congress To Support NC Candidates In Jammu And Kashmir Rajya Sabha Polls, Says Farooq Abdullah
Jammu And Kashmir Polls
The results of the 2024 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election formed the basis for the current assembly’s composition:
NC won 42 seats, but four of its members, who have since been elected to the assembly, cannot vote in the Rajya Sabha polls as they are among the four NC candidates.
BJP won 29 seats, but one of the MLAs died soon after the results, and the seat is vacant.
Congress won 6 seats and is supporting NC in the Rajya Sabha polls.
PDP won 3 seats; they too are supporting the National Conference. Others hold 10 seats
Jammu And Kashmir RS Polls
While the NC is the largest party with 42 MLAs, it requires 23 first-preference votes to win each of its three potentially secure seats. The BJP has 28 MLAs, and the NC-led coalition has support from the INC’s 6 members and a Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) MLA, along with 4 independent candidates, totaling 54 votes. And PDP three votes are with NC. This creates a tight race for the final seats after accounting for NC’s likely successful first three candidates.
PDP leader Waheed said, “The Party had decided to vote for NC and we are here to vote for them; he again said that NC has promised to support the PDP private member bills, besides, he stated that his Waqf bill, which was not accepted, will be accepted as they had requested to speaker to intervene.”
The BJP has fielded three candidates, suggesting they believe they can secure one seat on their own. If they succeed, the BJP could have one MP in the Rajya Sabha, up from their current zero. BJP alleges that all other parties have two faces, one in Delhi and one in Jammu and Kashmir.
Given the close vote count and NC’s inability to secure a third seat on its own, the contest for the fourth seat is a closely watched battle between the NC and the BJP. Two votes are undecided. Awami Ittehad Party’s Sheikh Khursheed and detained AAP MLA Mehraj Malik’s vote will decide the fourth seat winner.
Depending on the result, the NC could win three seats, while the BJP could win one seat. An NC victory would strengthen the ruling coalition, while a BJP victory would strengthen the opposition and potentially give the BJP more leverage in the region.
The election results will be announced later today. The outcome will not only determine the four new Rajya Sabha members but also provide an early indication of the political trends in Jammu and Kashmir following the 2024 assembly elections, and will also affect the voting in the seats by-elections of the UT assembly to be held on November 11.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: ZEE News
