Cong says ‘unsafe seat’ not acceptable
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 8: The National Conference will finalize its strategy for Rajya Sabha and Assembly by-poll elections on return of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah from New Delhi either on Thursday evening or Friday morning and convey its decision to the Congress (I) which has been expecting at least one ‘safe seat’ from its ally in the RS polls.
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Senior leaders in the National Conference told the Excelsior that the Chief Minister has left for New Delhi from Srinagar and is expected to be back in the Valley either Thursday evening or Friday morning.
“The CM has been holding charge of many important departments especially Finance and Power and will be attending crucial meetings pertaining to release of funds, revised budgetary estimates for 2025-26 etc and additional power to ensure that there is no electricity crisis in the winters,” they said.
Asked whether a meeting with the Congress high command pertaining to Rajya Sabha and Assembly by-polls for Nagrota and Budgam constituencies is also on the cards in the Union Capital, sources said there has been no such meeting scheduled but since National Conference is part of INDIA bloc, Omar obviously meets the Congress leaders.
However, they said, a decision on how many seats the NC will contest out of four for the Rajya Sabha, will be taken at the party’s high-level meeting in Srinagar on the CM’s return. NC president Dr Farooq Abdullah will chair and senior leaders will decide on whether NC will field candidates on all four seats or three which it can win easily or contest two seats and leave third for the Congress.
The BJP is sure to win one seat going by the arithmetic in the Legislative Assembly while NC with its allies including Congress, CPM and Independents or even alone can comfortably get three seats.
The Congress, as reported, wants one seat of Rajya Sabha though it has only six MLAs as against 41 of NC alone. The NC with its allies minus Congress has 47 MLAs, which will easily give it three Rajya Sabha seats.
The Congress has made it clear to the NC that it will not accept any ‘losing seat’ for the Rajya Sabha elections. It wants to contest one ‘safe seat’ so that its candidate, to whom the mandate, is given is easily though.
October 13 is last date for filing nomination papers for Rajya Sabha elections while voting, if required, will be held on October 24 followed by counting in the evening.
Also, the sources said, the NC and Congress will decide on by-elections to Nagrota and Budgam Assembly seats which are scheduled to be held on November 11.
In 2024 Assembly elections, Budgam seat was contested by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and there was no Congress candidate as per pre-poll alliance between the two parties. However, both NC and Congress candidates were in the fray in Nagrota seat against BJP stalwart Devender Singh Rana, who emerged victorious with thumping margin.
Going by the indications, the NC wants to contest both Budgam and Nagrota seats but since the Congress is its ally, no possibility can be ruled out, the leaders said.
Rajya Sabha elections are being held in Jammu and Kashmir after over four and half years. Four RS members elected from J&K in 2015 retired in February 2021 and elections couldn’t be held initially in the absence of Legislature and then for unknown reasons for a year.
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