NC Eyes Clean Sweep in J&K Rajya Sabha Polls, Names 3 Candidates but Keeps 4th a Mystery

New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC) on Friday expressed confidence in sweeping all four vacant Rajya Sabha seats in the upcoming elections, announcing three heavyweight candidates while leaving the fourth slot tantalizingly open for last-minute developments.

The move indicates the NC's numerical edge in the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly, where it commands a formidable bloc alongside potential allies, setting the stage for a high-stakes electoral showdown with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Senior NC leader and Chief Minister's advisor Nasir Aslam Wani said, “We are confident that we will win all four seats and have already held three or four rounds of talks with the Congress on this issue. Voting for the Rajya Sabha is separate, and you will see that we will win all four seats,”.

With 41 MLAs in its kitty, NC holds a clear lead over the BJP's 28 seats.  Then, congress has six, the PDP has three, and others have seven.

Meanwhile, the nominees for the three "safe" seats are former MLAs Chaudhary Ramzan and Sajjad Kitchloo, alongside party treasurer Shami Singh Oberoi alias Shami Oberoi.

Absent from the list is Farooq Abdullah himself, quashing speculation about a return to the Rajya Sabha for the veteran leader.

Wani close to the Abdullah family said that Farooq Abdullah, who has helmed the NC through decades of turbulence, may not contest, as senior Abdullah believes his presence is needed more in the valley than outside the union territory.

Political analysts, while wishing anonymity, dissected the voting calculus with a mix of caution and curiosity. "We’d be surprised if everyone agrees on the fourth seat and Congress decides to support the National Conference’s candidate, especially since two independent MLAs are already backing the government," he said, suggesting the Rajya Sabha contest could still see some surprises.

For the contested fourth seat, the NC-led alliance boasts 24 votes more than the BJP's 28, a margin that could prove decisive in the secret ballot. “The elections, slated for October 24, will hinge on cross-party wheeling and dealing, with no nominations filed as yet leaving the field wide open for manoeuvres,” he added.

On the other side of the aisle, the BJP is gearing up for a counter offensive, expected to unveil its nominees later today or tomorrow.

Former state president Ravinder Raina emerges as the frontrunner, buoyed by his organizational prowess and appeal in the Jammu belt. Contenders nipping at his heels include Sunil Sethi, the party's chief spokesperson; Nirmal Singh, ex-deputy chief minister and Sat Sharma, the current state president.

Party insiders hint at a strategic pivot, “rather than scattering resources across multiple seats, the BJP may consolidate behind a single candidate for the third seat-where two berths are up for grabs in a joint contest offering a “symbolic challenge” to the NC's hegemony without overextending its limited assembly strength,” said party sources

BJP's position, while numerically challenged, is far from negligible. Its 28 MLAs form a solid core in Jammu, a region where the party has steadily eroded NC's traditional dominance since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.

“We're not just participating; we're building for the future,” a senior BJP functionary said anonymously, alluding to the polls as a litmus test for the party's grassroots mobilization ahead of local body elections.

Meanwhile, Congress-NC's junior partner in the ruling government finds itself at a crossroads. Sources suggest the party may flex its muscles by fielding a candidate from mainland Jammu, a hotbed it hasn't cracked electorally since 2014.

Leading the pack are Uday Bhanu Chib, president of the Indian Youth Congress and the second J&K figure to helm the national youth wing after Ghulam Nabi Azad in 1980, and Raman Bhalla, a former minister with deep roots in the Jammu region.

Ghulam Ahmed Mir, a sitting MLA, remains a dark horse, his nomination not entirely off the table. A Congress bid could strain the alliance but also signal renewed vigor in a party battered by recent defections.

“As the October 13 nomination deadline looms, the Rajya Sabha polls encapsulate J&K's fractured political mosaic, NC's assertive centrism, BJP's dogged regionalism and Congress's quest for relevance, the outcome will ripple through the newly carved union territory's delicate power-sharing dynamics. For now, the NC's early bird gambit has the ball rolling but in the shadowy world of upper house arithmetic, nothing is etched in stone until the votes are cast,” said Editor in Chief, Daily Uqab Manzoor Anjum.

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