Jammu/Srinagar, Oct 13: Battle lines were drawn for the much awaited four seats of the Rajya Sabha in Jammu & Kashmir which are going to poll on 24 October 2025, with nine candidates-four from the National Conference (NC), three from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and two others filed the nomination papers on Monday, the last date for nominations.
Out of the four seats, the BJP has fielded candidates in three seats. BJP Jammu and Kashmir president Sat Sharma, Ali Mohammad Mir, and Rakesh Mahajan filed their nominations here, before the Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Manoj Kumar Pandita, who is the returning officer for the polls.
The BJP candidates were accompanied by Union Minister of State in PMO Jitendra Singh and Rajya Sabha member Ghulam Ali Khatana, among others.
Talking to reporters, senior BJP leader and Leader of Opposition in J-K Assembly Sunil Sharma said his party has fielded candidates for three of the four Rajya Sabha seats and all efforts would be made to win all three of them.
“We will do whatever it takes to win all three seats on which we have fielded candidates,” he said.
Earlier, the BJP candidates left the party headquarters at Jawahar Nagar in a procession towards the returning officer’s office.
The candidates were accompanied by most of the party MLAs and other leaders from the Valley.
The Election Commission of India has issued three notifications for the four Rajya Sabha seats in J-K, holding elections separately on two seats while the polls for the other two seats are being held under a common notification.
With an effective strength of 88 MLAs in the current legislative assembly, the BJP, which has 28 MLAs, has a realistic chance of winning only one seat. It will need help from non-BJP MLAs either to vote for its candidates or abstain from voting for the two seats under common notification.
Meanwhile, after laying the speculation to rest the NC named party spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar as it’s fourth candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls in Jammu and Kashmir after the Congress, which is part of the ruling alliance, declined to nominate anyone.
Biennial elections to fill the seats, lying vacant since 2021, will be held on October 24.
“JKNC state spokesperson @ImranNDar will be the official party nominee for the 4th Rajya Sabha seat,” the National Conference posted on its official handle.
Earlier, the party’s three candidates — Chowdhary Mohammad Ramzan, Sajjad Ahmad Kitchloo and Gurwinder Singh alias Shammi Oberoi — filed their nominations before the returning officer for the Rajya Sabha polls.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the NC decided to field its candidate for the fourth seat after the Congress declined to field a candidate.
Congress general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir said the Congress had sought a safe seat from its alliance partner but received no response.
“We wanted to field a candidate for the first three seats but they offered us the fourth seat which was not safe. Therefore, the Congress party decided that it will not field a candidate for the fourth seat,” he added.
Additionally, AICC general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir on Monday said the National Conference (NC) should have taken all like-minded parties into confidence before finalising its candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaking to reporters in Anantnag district, Mir exuded confidence that no non-BJP MLA will vote for the party’s candidates in the polls.
Biennial elections to fill four Rajya Sabha seats from Jammu and Kashmir, which have been lying vacant since 2021, will be held on October 24.
Separately, Rajya Sabha bypoll to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of AAP member from Punjab, Sanjeev Arora, will also be held on October 24.
“The chief minister should have taken into confidence all like-minded parties before naming their (NC) candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections,” Mir said.
“There are 60 non-BJP MLAs in the 88-member House. I am confident that the BJP will not get even one of those 60 votes. They are facing internal problems and it is difficult for them to manage within their party,” he said.
Mir said the Congress sought a safe seat from its alliance partner NC to contest the Rajya Sabha elections, but there was no response from the regional party.
“We wanted to field a candidate for the first three seats, but they offered us the fourth seat, which was not safe. Therefore, the Congress decided not to field a candidate for the fourth seat,” he said.
Jammu and Kashmir has been unrepresented in the Rajya Sabha since February 15, 2021, the day Ghulam Nabi Azad and Nazir Ahmed Laway finished their terms.
Two other members, Fayaz Ahmed Mir and Shamsheer Singh Manhas, completed their terms on February 10 in the same year.
