Srinagar: Voting for the Rajya Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir began on Friday morning, with attention focused on the fiercely contested fourth seat between the National Conference (NC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
MLAs arrived at the Legislative Assembly complex to cast their votes at three designated booths, according to the news agency Kashmir News Observer.
While the NC is poised to comfortably secure three of the four seats, the fourth seat remains in play, as both the NC and the BJP have an equal number of votes. The BJP’s edge on the final seat has weakened after the Congress, PDP, and independent MLA Shabir Kulley pledged support to the NC.
Based on current political alignments, NC candidates enjoy the backing of 57 MLAs—comprising 41 from NC, six each from Congress and independents, three from PDP, and one from CPI(M)—while the BJP commands 28 MLAs. The voting preferences of two legislators, Mehraj Malik and Sheikh Khursheed, remain unclear. Malik, who is under detention under the Public Safety Act, cast his vote earlier this week from Kathua district jail.
NC candidates Choudhary Muhammad Ramzan and Sajjad Kichloo are expected to easily clinch the first two seats with 57 votes each, against the BJP’s 28.
The third and fourth seats, however, are being contested together among Gurwinder Singh Oberoi and Imran Dar from NC, and Sat Sharma from BJP. The two candidates with the highest votes will be declared winners.
Within the ruling alliance, votes are likely to be divided between Oberoi and Imran Dar, while all BJP MLAs are expected to support Sat Sharma. NC is likely to assign 29 votes to Oberoi and 28 to Dar—matching the BJP’s 28 votes.
Unless cross-voting occurs within the ruling bloc, the BJP’s prospects of winning the fourth seat appear slim. The outcome will hinge on how the alliance’s votes are distributed among the three candidates.
