The political stage is set for an intense contest over the four Rajya Sabha seats from Jammu and Kashmir, as nine candidates — including four from the ruling National Conference (NC) and three from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — filed their nomination papers before Returning Officer Manoj Pandita, Secretary of the Assembly, today.
For the first notification, where the election will be held for one seat, Choudhary Muhammad Ramzan of the NC and Dr. Ali Muhammad Mir of the BJP filed their nominations, along with independent candidate Prabhakar Dada.
With the NC-led alliance commanding 53 MLAs, Ramzan is expected to secure this seat comfortably, even without Congress support. The BJP enjoys the backing of its 28 MLAs.
Under the second notification, Sajad Kichloo of the NC and Rakesh Mahajan of the BJP have entered the fray for another single seat. Given the same voting dynamics as previously, Kichloo appears poised for victory.
For the third notification, which covers two seats, NC’s Gurwinder Singh Oberoi (alias Shammi Oberoi) and Imran Dar have filed their nomination papers alongside BJP’s Sat Pal Sharma and independent candidate Kante Sayanna.
Political observers indicate that the two candidates securing the highest number of votes will ultimately win these seats. The NC alliance is expected to secure 29 votes for Gurwinder Singh Oberoi and allocate 24 votes to Imran Dar, while BJP legislators are likely to cast all 28 votes for Sat Sharma.
After filing his nomination, BJP’s Rakesh Mahajan expressed gratitude towards the party leadership and shared optimism about the outcomes. “I am thankful to the national leadership for this honour. I am sure we will win all three seats. The BJP gives equal opportunity to every worker, and all get their due right,” he stated.
BJP party president Sat Sharma, also a candidate, took a dig at the ruling NC while emphasizing the BJP’s determined approach. “We will fight with all our strength and script history. We aim to win more than one seat this time,” Sharma asserted.
Dr. Ali Mohammad Mir, another BJP nominee, felt privileged by the trust placed in him. “Entire Kashmir is happy. I thank the central leadership for considering me competent for this responsibility,” he remarked.
Furthermore, NC chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq reaffirmed the successful completion of the nomination process. “We are confident of winning all four seats. However, it is unfortunate that Congress did not agree to what was offered. I urge all secular forces to support our candidates,” he stated.
Senior NC leader Choudhary Muhammad Ramzan, also contesting, vowed to raise developmental and political concerns in Parliament. “We will come up to people’s expectations. There are a number of issues — developmental and political — that must be addressed, and we will talk about them,” he asserted.
The elections for the four Rajya Sabha seats from Jammu and Kashmir are scheduled to take place later this month, setting the stage for a politically charged showdown.
