No representation in Upper House for over 4 yrs
By-elections after completion of SSR exercise
JAMMU, Mar 31 :
Elections to four seats of Rajya Sabha in Jammu and Kashmir are expected to be delayed further and are likely to be held when two vacant seats in the Legislative Assembly are filled up after completion of Special Summary Revision (SSR) of electoral rolls taken up for them to ensure that no eligible voters are left out.
Four Rajya Sabha seats from Jammu and Kashmir are vacant since February 2021 i.e. for more than four years now.
The Rajya Sabha elections became due when the Legislative Assembly was constituted in the middle of October last year following elections to the Legislature held after nearly a decade. However, within days, two Assembly seats fell vacant after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who won the election from two constituencies, quit Budgam and retained Ganderbal seat while BJP stalwart Devender Singh Rana, who won Nagrota seat, passed away.
Sources told the Excelsior that the Rajya Sabha elections for all four seats are now expected to be held only after by-polls to Budgam and Nagrota seats are conducted by the Election Commission. The by-elections to two Assembly seats can be held only after final rolls are published on May 5 after completion of Special Summary Revision.
Besides there is also a provision for nomination of five MLAs to the Legislative Assembly but even after five and half months of the Government formation, the MLAs haven’t been nominated so far. The issue of nomination of MLAs is also pending before the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court.
As per the provision, two nominated MLAs have to be women, two Kashmiri migrants including one woman and one Pakistan occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK) refugee.
“Generally the Election Commission hold by-elections with Assembly polls of a State. All vacancies arising out in the Assemblies across the country are filled up whenever elections are held to an Assembly,” the sources said and added that earliest polls in a State are due in Bihar in October this year.
Jammu and Kashmir has 90-member Legislature and nomination of five MLAs will take the House strength to 95.
The alliance of National Conference, Congress and Independents can win three out of four Rajya Sabha seats while the BJP will be safe on one seat going by numbers the major parties enjoy in the Legislative Assembly.
In 2019, PDP-BJP alliance with 54 seats (PDP 28 and BJP 26) had won three seats (two PDP and one BJP) while fourth seat had gone to Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir who was with the Congress then with the support of NC and Congress, who had 27 MLAs (NC 15 and Congress 12). Four MLAs of smaller parties and Independents had supported Azad.
As per the past practices, the Election Commission issued three notifications for Rajya Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir. One election is held for two seats while two separate elections are held for one seat each. If the similar practice is followed, two seats on which separate elections will be held will go to the ruling Alliance which already has 54 MLAs with it. While two seats on which one election will be held will be equally divided among NC-led Alliance and the BJP.
Last election to four seats of Rajya Sabha from Jammu and Kashmir was held in February 2015 when the then BJP-PDP alliance won three seats and NC-Congress one. Fayaz Ahmad Mir and Nazir Ahmad Laway (both PDP), Shamsher Singh Manhas (BJP) and Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Chief Minister of J&K and then in Congress were elected. BJP’s Chander Mohan Sharma had lost the election.
All these four Rajya Sabha members from Jammu and Kashmir completed their six years term in February 2021. Since then, there has been no elected MP from J&K in the Rajya Sabha in the absence of Assembly.
In 2015, PDP had 28 MLAs, BJP 26, National Conference 15, Congress 12, People’s Conference two and CPM and AIP one each. Rest were Independents.