October 6, 2025

SRINAGAR: The political arena in Jammu and Kashmir is buzzing with action! The National Conference (NC), led by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, has boldly decided to contest all four Rajya Sabha seats available in the Union Territory. They are not willing to give even a single seat to their ally, the Congress party. What a twist in the alliance saga! BJP, too, has jumped into the ring announcing that it will contest all the seats. But NC isn’t impressed. Party spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq called BJP’s move “posturing,” adding that the BJP would face defeat just like it did in the recent assembly polls. Sadiq confidently declared to TOI, "The party would contest all seats and win comfortably. BJP would lose comfortably if they entered the fray." Meanwhile, J&K Congress president Tariq Hamid Karra revealed some interesting inside news. He told TOI that while the Congress's central leadership will decide overall election strategy, their local unit has strongly told the leaders to demand at least one Rajya Sabha seat. Karra pointed out, "Though Congress has chosen not to join Omar Abdullah's government till J&K’s statehood is restored, the Rajya Sabha polls are different. In J&K govt, we gave up ministerial positions for the larger goal of statehood, but here we are talking about representation in the Upper House of Parliament at a time when our constitutional rights are still not guaranteed." The drama thickens because the four Rajya Sabha seats in J&K have been empty since 2021! That’s right — Ghulam Nabi Azad and Nazir Ahmed Laway’s terms ended on February 15, 2021, while Fayaz Ahmed Mir and Shamsheer Singh Manhas finished their terms earlier on February 10, 2021. CM Omar Abdullah has openly expressed his frustration over the “undue delay” in filling these key seats. So far, the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly has 88 members out of 90 seats. National Conference holds 41 seats and has support from five of seven independents. Congress brings six MLAs to the table, and CPM adds one more, making the NC-Congress alliance strong with the backing of 53 members. BJP has 28 seats, while PDP holds three, and PC and AAP have one seat each. The two vacant assembly seats belong to Budgam, vacated by Omar Abdullah himself, and Nagrota, after the unfortunate passing of BJP legislator Davinder Singh Rana. With the Election Commission announcing polling for the Rajya Sabha seats on October 24, the political fireworks in J&K are just about to explode. Will NC keep all seats in hand? Will Congress get its share? And can BJP make a surprising comeback? Stay tuned, because this Rajya Sabha battle in J&K is set to be a blockbuster!

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Tags: Jammu and kashmir, Rajya sabha elections, National conference, Congress, Bjp, Omar abdullah,