The four Rajya Sabha seats are vacant since February 2021 after which election to these seats could not be held in the absence of the assembly in J&K that was made a union territory in August 2019.
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The upcoming elections for four vacant Rajya Sabha seats, along with the by-polls in Nagrota and Budgam assembly constituencies, are likely to emerge as a litmus test of political strength in Jammu and Kashmir.
The election process for the four Rajya Sabha seats began Monday when the notification was issued for the polling date on October 24. While announcing the Bihar poll schedule, the Election Commission of India (ECI) also declared that the by-election for the Nagrota and Budgam seats in J&K will be held on 11 November and counting of votes will be held on 14 November.
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The four Rajya Sabha seats are vacant since February 2021 after which election to these seats could not be held in the absence of the assembly in J&K that was made a union territory in August 2019.
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The Budgam seat fell vacant after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah vacated it and retained Ganderbal seat after winning from both the seats in the Assembly election last year.
The Nagrota seat fell vacant following the demise of BJP leader and MLA Devender Singh Rana on 31 October last year, days after the Assembly election results were declared.
October 13 will be the last date for filing nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha seats, while scrutiny of the nominations will take place the following day, October 14. Candidates wishing to withdraw their nominations can do so until October 16. If required, polling will be held on October 24, with counting of votes scheduled for the same day, ensuring a swift electoral process.
The four Rajya Sabha seats became vacant after the retirement of Ghulam Nabi Azad, Nazir Ahmed Laway, Mir Mohammad Fayaz and Shamsher Singh.
Political parties are gearing up to contest the Rajya Sabha elections and the by-poll for the two assembly seats.
With its numbers in the assembly, the ruling National Conference (NC) is expected to win three of the four Rajya Sabha seats.
The Congress, which is an alliance partner of NC, is likely to stake a claim for one Rajya Sabha seat, said Congress spokesman Ravinder Sharma. NC spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said party leadership will decide whether to leave a seat for Congress.
The BJP has decided to contest all four Rajya Sabha seats. The core committee of the party is learnt to have prepared a panel of four, including Sat Sharma, Dr. Nirmal Singh, Ravinder Raina and Sunil Sethi, for contesting the polls.
Sharma is president of the J&K unit of BJP, while Singh is a former deputy chief minister. Raina lost the Assembly elections against the NC candidate Surinder Choudhary who is now the deputy CM of J&K. Sethi is the chief spokesman of the BJP in J&K.
The core committee meeting was held under the chairmanship of Tarun Chugh, BJP national general secretary and Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh was also present.
In the assembly of 90 members, the National Conference had won 42 seats, the BJP 29, the Congress 6, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) 3, the Peoples Conference( PC) one, the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-CPI(M) one, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) one, while the independents had bagged seven seats.
The stance of the smaller parties, including People’s Conference, Awami Itihaad Party (AIP), CPI(M), and AAP, would have a key role in the polls for the Rajya Sabha seats.
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