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Srinagar, October 13 (IANS) Four candidates of the regional National Conference (NC) on Monday filed nomination papers for four Rajya Sabha seats from Jammu and Kashmir.
After Congress refused to contest for the fourth Rajya Sabha seat offered by NC, the Farooq Abdullah-led party fielded its fourth candidate as the Congress refused to contest the seat terming it ‘risky’.
As per vote distribution, the NC-alliance has only 24 votes for the fourth seat while the BJP has 28 votes. With a clear lead on this seat, BJP Jammu and Kashmir President Sat Sharma has filed his nomination for this seat today.
Four NC candidates filed their nomination papers today for the Rajya Sabha elections, for which voting will be held in October, Chaudhary Muhammad Ramzan, Sajjad Kitchlu and Shammi Oberoi filed their nomination papers for three seats on Monday, while Imran Nabi Dar filed his nomination papers for the NC for the fourth seat on Monday.
With the Congress deciding to stay away from these elections, four candidates are now officially in the race to represent the NC.
With the process of filing nominations ending on Monday, the focus has now shifted to the campaigning and voting process by the members of the Legislative Assembly, which will decide the final outcome of the Rajya Sabha elections in the Union Territory.
The Election Commission announced elections for four Rajya Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir on September 24 after more than four years as Jammu and Kashmir did not have a legislative assembly after February 2021.
The seat-sharing process between the NC and Congress ended in a deadlock, following which Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee President Tariq Hameed Karra told reporters that the party has decided to stay away from the Rajya Sabha elections.
What will now be closely watched is whether the 6 Congress MLAs cast their votes in favor of the NC candidates or stay out of the voting process to register their protest for not giving ‘reserved’ seats to the NC.
–IANS
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