After nearly four years, stage set for Rajya Sabha polls in J-K

SRINAGAR — The elections for the four Rajya Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir will be held after nearly four years following the swearing-in of the National Conference-led government on October 16.

Sources in the knowhow of the political dynamics post the formation of the government, the National Conference-Congress is expected to win three Rajya Sabha seats. The alliance won a majority in the just-held Assembly polls in the Union Territory, getting 48 of 90 seats.

Other parties, including CPI-M, AAP and five Independents are supporting the alliance, pushing the overall tally to 55.

The BJP, which finished second with a best-haul of 29 seats, could get one Rajya Sabha seat.

National Conference supremo Farooq Abdullah is likely to be nominated to Rajya Sabha while BJP may send one of its senior leaders to the Upper House, they added.

Former Deputy Chief Ministers Nirmal Singh and Kavinder Gupta, who were denied tickets for Assembly polls, are the frontrunners for the BJP’s Rajya Sabha nomination, sources further said.

The last Rajya Sabha polls in the erstwhile state were held in 2015 and the four seats have remained vacant since 2021 after the elected members completed their six-year tenures.

In the Assembly polls held after a decade in Jammu and Kashmir, the National Conference won 42 seats, Congress won 6, BJP won 29, PDP won 3 and one seat each was won by the People’s Conference, CPI-M and AAP. Seven independents also emerged victorious.