ECI notification likely ahead of Parliament session

Jammu, Nov 14: Election Commission of India (ECI) may issue notifications for Rajya Sabha elections to fill up four vacancies from Jammu and Kashmir, anytime before the commencement of Parliament session, beginning from November 25.

Presently there is no elected Rajya Sabha member from J&K. Those elected in 2015 had completed their term in 2021.

Under the J&K Reorganisation Act 2019, J&K will have four Rajya Sabha Seats.

Going by the composition of the present J&K Legislative Assembly, the National Conference (NC)-led combine is all set to bag three seats comfortably and BJP is pinning hopes on getting one.

As far as the candidates are concerned, both sides have yet to finalise their names.

It is believed that NC has already decided to send its President Farooq Abdullah to the Upper House.

Names of former ministers Chowdhary Muhammad Ramzan and Sajjad Ahmad Kichloo too are being cited as NC’s other candidates though the party has not made any official statement on this account so far.
Moreover, its equation with Congress is still unsettled on this account.

In the case of BJP, the names of former Deputy Chief Ministers Nirmal Singh and Kavinder Gupta, and former J&K BJP President Ravinder Raina are in the realm of speculation as frontrunners.