NC to send Dr Farooq to Rajya Sabha once J&K Assembly shapes up

Srinagar, Oct 11: With stage set for the new J&K Assembly after a decade, National Conference chief Dr Farooq Abdullah is preparing himself to represent the party in Rajya Sabha, highly placed sources told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Friday.

A senior NC leader confirmed the development stating that the party would send NC chief to Rajya Sabha. “He is a guiding force for us. Once the new Assembly is formed, we will hold polls for Rajya Sabha. There is a consensus within the party that Dr Farooq sahab should go to Rajya Sabha to represent NC there and also rake the issues of people of J&K.”

Sources said that once the Assembly would be formed, first time in the Union Territory, J&K will have representation in the Rajya Sabha after three-and-a-half years.

About the procedure, the sources in NC said that newly elected legislators will elect four representatives to Rajya Sabha once the notification is issued by the Election Commission of India.

“At present, Ghulam Ali Khatana is the only Rajya Sabha member, who represents J&K in Rajya Sabha. He being a Gujjar face, was nominated by the BJP. The BJP’s move was aimed to woo Gujjar votes in the recently concluded Assembly polls,” sources said.

Under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the 90-member J&K Assembly can elect five Lok Sabha members and four Rajya Sabha members.

The last Rajya Sabha elections in J&K were held in 2015. NC-Congress alliance had secured one seat while the then Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad became the Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha. All four Rajya Sabha members from J&K retired in February 2021.

The NC Chief was elected to Lok Sabha in 2014 from Srinagar Parliamentary polls. NC’s Hasnain Masoodi and Muhammad Akbar Lone won from Anantnag and Baramulla Lok Sabha seats. Sources said that NC in its recent Legislature Party meeting also unanimously agreed that Dr Farooq should represent the party in Rajya Sabha.