Ramzan, Kichloo, Oberoi take oath in RS

Jammu, Dec 1: Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman C P Radhakrishnan on Monday administered the oath of office to three newly-elected National Conference (NC) Members of Parliament (MPs) from Jammu and Kashmir - Chowdry Muhammad Ramzan, Sajjad Ahmed Kichloo, and Gurwinder Singh (Shammi) Oberoi as Rajya Sabha (RS) members.

Kichloo was the first among the trio to take the oath, followed by Oberoi and Ramzan on the opening day of the winter session of the Parliament.

The session will continue till December 19, 2025.

Kichloo opted for the Urdu language while Oberoi and Ramzan took the oath in Punjabi and Kashmiri languages.

Following oath ceremony, highlight of the day was the maiden speech of Chowdry Ramzan in the Upper House, where he minced no words in conveying his party’s major concern about, what he said, “absolute concentration of power clout with the Lieutenant Governor and thus leaving no power with the elected government despite it having a massive mandate in the 2024 assembly elections – the fairest one.”

“Everyone in the House today talked about the significance of fair elections. While speaking on this topic, I would not go too far away and would talk only about my state, only. In 2024, assembly elections were conducted in J&K in the fairest manner. As an outcome of those elections, a government came to power, headed by NC’s Omar Abdullah. Their allies included Congress, independent, and several other MLAs,” the senior NC leader said.

He said that the NC-led government came to power, almost securing a two-thirds majority.

“But, unfortunately, I would like to share with a heavy heart that our government in J&K does not have any power. All the powers have been concentrated in the hands of the Lieutenant Governor. Orders flow from there (issued from the LG office),” Ramzan said, but the Chairman Rajya Sabha asked him to stick to the subject only.

However, the NC MP continued, “I would like to tell Chairman Sahab that J&K is a border state. And you know – J&K has passed through what circumstances in the past few decades. We need to strengthen it. The people there have given a massive mandate to a government, for the first time.”

“But if that government is divested of all powers – what is the purpose of that government in place there?” he said.

At this point in time, he was again warned by the Chairman not to divert the topic.

Yet Ramzan did not conclude his brief address before saying, “Our J&K is a very small state. At the time of accession, it was a big state. However, now its expanse has shrunk to only 40,000 sq km. Our state is small, but its problems are gigantic and need solutions.”

Earlier, at the very outset of his address, Ramzan greeted Rajya Sabha Chairman, on behalf of his party and the party president, Farooq Abdullah, on Radhakrishnan’s election as the Vice President and presiding over the Rajya Sabha for the first time.

Radhakrishnan assumed the office of the Vice President in September this year, succeeding Jagdeep Dhankhar.

“Though personally I’m not much aware yet, I’ve just listened to other members here in Rajya Sabha eulogising your services and qualities and have come to know that you have earlier served as Governor also. But the most significant aspect, as delineated by all of them, was your contribution as a social worker throughout your life. Even otherwise, none can reach such significant posts without having a rich background in public service and having made great sacrifices. Given your significant contributions, the ruling party has elected you for this post, and we all greet you for it,” Ramzan said.

Ramzan, Kichloo, and Oberoi were among four members elected in the biennial elections to four vacant seats in the Council of States (Rajya Sabha), from Jammu and Kashmir on October 24 this year.

The fourth seat was won by Bharatiya Janata Party’s J&K President Sat Sharma.

Sharma took the oath of office on November 6.

Given their entry in the RS, J&K is being represented by its full strength of MPs in the Upper House of the Parliament, after a hiatus of over four years.

Presently, J&K has five members, three from NC and two from BJP, in the Rajya Sabha.

BJP MP Gulam Ali Khatana is the nominated member in the House of Elders.

From NC, while both Ramzan and Kichloo are seasoned politicians and former ministers, Oberoi is a first-timer.

Ramzan represented the NC in the J&K Legislative Assembly four times from Handwara in 1983, 1987, 1996, and then again in 2008.

Kichloo served as an NC MLA twice from Kishtwar in 2002 and 2008 and as an MLC in the J&K Legislative Council in 2015.

Interestingly, Oberoi commenced his sojourn in politics from the Rajya Sabha.

BJP’s Sat Sharma, a former minister, is also an experienced hand.

Presently, J&K BJP President, Sat Sharma, contested the 2014 assembly elections from Jammu West and served as a cabinet minister till April 2018.

Sharma, a staunch RSS ideologue and Chartered Accountant by profession, earlier also served as J&K BJP chief from 2015 to 2018.

These seats had been lying vacant since 2021, when the term of office of four members elected from the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir – Mir Muhammad Fayaz, Shamsher Singh, Ghulam Nabi Azad, and Nazir Ahmad Laway - expired on their retirement.

PDP’s Fayaz and BJP’s Shamsher Singh had retired on February 10, 2021, followed by Ghulam Nabi Azad of Congress and PDP’s Laway on February 15, 2021.

However, the elections to these vacant seats could not be conducted due to the non-availability of the required electorate (Members of J&K Legislative Assembly) at the time of occurrence of those vacancies.

In all, J&K is represented by 10 MPs in the Parliament, as the Lok Sabha too has five MPs from the UT – two each from NC (Mian Altaf and Aga Syed Ruhullah) and BJP (Jitendra Singh and Jugal Kishore Sharma) and Engineer Rashid of the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP).