The Congress party has decided to opt out of contesting the October 24 Rajya Sabha elections for four seats in Jammu and Kashmir after its alliance partner, the National Conference, refused to offer it a “safe seat”. These four Rajya Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir have been vacant since 2021 after the retirement of Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mir Mohammad Fayaz, Shamsher Singh, and Nazir Ahmed Laway.
Addressing the media, Tariq Karra, the president of J&K Congress, said that party leaders had collectively decided that the grand old party would not contest the Rajya Sabha polls.
Karra claimed that the party had requested seat number one or two, which are going to the polls. However, the National Conference offered them seat number four under a common notification.
"Keeping this in mind, all the participants (at the meeting) were of the opinion that seat four is not safe like seat one or two. It was unanimously decided that we will not put up our candidate for seat number four. We will leave it to our alliance partners to see what they think about that," he said.
"Since the safe seat was not offered to us, we don't want to contest on seat four," he added.
Seat number 4
Notably, the ruling party in the state, the National Conference, has already named three candidates for the upcoming polls to the upper house of Parliament. The candidates filed their nominations on Monday.
{{/usCountry}}Notably, the ruling party in the state, the National Conference, has already named three candidates for the upcoming polls to the upper house of Parliament. The candidates filed their nominations on Monday.
{{/usCountry}}The National Conference leaders had said that they left seat number four vacant for its ally, the Congress party. However, this seat would need every anti-BJP vote to ensure a clean sweep, making it an unsafe seat for the grand old party.
The three MLAs of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), one each from the People's Conference, Awami Ittehad Party, and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), would have to vote for the ruling party candidate to secure a clean sweep on the seat.
Rajya Sabha elections: NC vs BJP
The opposition party in the state, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has 28 MLAs in the assembly and is likely to win one Rajya Sabha seat.
Meanwhile, the ruling National Conference, which has 41 MLAs as well as six independents, associates, and six Congress members, is expected to bag three seats. The BJP has also named three candidates for the elections.
The elections to the four seats are scheduled to take place on October 24.