Srinagar, Oct 24: Voting for the Rajya Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir began on Friday morning amid high political drama, with the spotlight firmly on the closely contested fourth seat between the National Conference (NC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
MLAs arrived early at the Legislative Assembly complex to cast their votes across three polling booths set up inside the premises, as reported by news agency.
While the National Conference is poised to comfortably secure three of the four seats, the battle for the fourth seat remains tense, as both NC and BJP command nearly equal vote strength. The BJP’s prospects suffered a setback after Congress, PDP, and independent MLA Shabir Kulley pledged their support to NC.
According to current political alignments, NC candidates are backed by 57 MLAs, including 41 from NC, six Congress, six independents, three PDP, and one CPI(M) member. The BJP holds 28 MLAs, while the voting preferences of Mehraj Malik and Sheikh Khursheed remain uncertain. Malik, detained under the Public Safety Act, exercised his vote earlier this week from Kathua District Jail.
NC’s Choudhary Muhammad Ramzan and Sajjad Kichloo are virtually assured of victory on the first two seats, each expected to garner 57 votes against BJP’s 28.
However, the real contest unfolds in the combined election for the third and fourth seats, where Gurwinder Singh Oberoi and Imran Dar of NC are pitted against Sat Sharma of BJP. The two highest vote-getters will be declared winners.
The ruling alliance is likely to split its votes between Oberoi and Dar, while all BJP legislators are expected to back Sharma. NC reportedly plans to allocate 29 votes to Oberoi and 28 to Dar, matching the BJP’s 28 votes.
Unless unexpected cross-voting takes place, political observers say the BJP’s chances of clinching a seat remain slim. The final vote composition within the ruling alliance for the last two seats will ultimately determine whether the saffron party manages an upset in the high-stakes Rajya Sabha battle.
