In a significant realignment ahead of Friday’s polling for four Rajya Sabha seats from Jammu and Kashmir, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday announced its support for its arch political rival–ruling National Conference (NC). The contest is directly between the NC and BJP.
Addressing a press conference in Srinagar, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said the decision was taken “to safeguard Jammu and Kashmir’s rights and to keep the BJP at bay.”
“To strengthen the INDIA Alliance, we’ve decided to vote for the NC. We’ll support their candidate Shammi Oberoi on the third Rajya Sabha seat, but not the fourth one, otherwise, if they lose, NC will conveniently blame the PDP,” Mehbooba said.
“We also trust that NC will stay true to the promise given by Farooq Sahib to pass PDP’s Land Rights and Daily Wagers Bills” that have been moved by the PDP in the ongoing session of the Assembly.
“NC doesn’t deserve it, but we have to give our support for the larger cause of keeping the fascist forces away,” Mehbooba asserted.
Mehbooba explained that the decision came after discussions with the party’s leadership and its MLAs, following the NC’s request for support in the Rajya Sabha elections.
She also said that the NC president Farooq Abdullah had called her to request her party’s backing. On Wednesday, NC’s Rajya Sabha candidate Shammi Oberoi had visited Mehbooba at her residence to seek her support.
NC has fielded Chowdhary Mohammad Ramzan, Sajjad Ahmad Kitchloo, Gurwinder Singh alias Shammi Oberoi, and Imran Nabi Dar as its Rajya Sabha candidates.
Replying to questions from reporters, Dr. Abdullah ruled out the speculations and said “Congress is with us in the Rajya Sabha polls”.
It is worth mentioning that the six MLAs of Congress had on Wednesday skipped the joint legislature party meeting that was convened by the ruling NC. Other allies of NC including independent MLAs and CPI(M) MLA MY Tarigami, attended the meeting to chalk out the strategy for the Rajya Sabha elections.
The Congress held its meeting separately and left the decision of supporting the NC candidates or abstaining from polling to the party high command.
The Congress had decided not to field its candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls after their talks with the NC failed as they were not offered a safe seat.
The BJP has fielded three candidates, including the party’s J&K president Sat Sharma, Dr Ali Mohammad Mir and Rakesh Mahajan.
The four Rajya Sabha seats from Jammu and Kashmir were vacant since 2021 due to the absence of an elected assembly in the Union Territory.
Peoples Conference MLA Sajad Lone has announced that he would abstain from voting for the Rajya Sabha polls.