PDP To Support NC In Jammu Kashmir Rajya Sabha Poll; Conditions Apply

Srinagar: As Rajya Sabha elections near and candidates seek support from legislators, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has set conditions before the National Conference government to support one of its candidates in the upcoming polls on October 24 in the Srinagar legislative assembly.

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said that NC president Farooq Abdullah called her seeking support for the Rajya Sabha candidate. “I told him to pass some of the bills which were submitted by the PDP legislators. If they pass some of our bills, we will think of supporting them,” she said, mentioning land rights and the regularisation of daily wagers’ bills.

The regularisation of the daily wagers bill was submitted by the PDP legislator in the last session of the assembly, while the land rights bill is being submitted in the coming session from October 23 as a private member's bill.

The ruling party has fielded four candidates – Choudhary Muhammad Ramzan, Sajad Kichloo, Gurwinder Singh Oberoi and spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar – who are pitted against the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party’s JK unit president Sat Pal Sharma, Ali Muhammad Dar and Rakesh Mahajan.

Based on current vote arithmetic, the three NC candidates contesting appear to succeed, while the BJP’s Sharma is in an advantageous position for the fourth seat, which will see a contest between NC and BJP. With its 28 MLAs, the BJP has a numerical advantage over the NC’s projected 24 votes for this seat. The Congress party, with six legislators, pulled out of the contest against the BJP on the fourth seat after being denied candidature by the NC on the safe seats.

The Assembly currently has 88 sitting members in the 90-member House. One seat fell vacant following the death of BJP legislator Davender Singh Rana in November last year, while another became vacant after NC Vice President Omar Abdullah resigned from the Budgam constituency, choosing to retain Ganderbal—his family’s traditional stronghold, having won both seats in the 2024 election.

The NC commands the support of 41 MLAs and is backed by six Congress legislators, five Independents, and CPI(M) leader Yousuf Tarigami, bringing its total to 53 votes. The BJP holds 28 MLAs, while the remaining votes are divided among smaller parties, with PDP (3), Aam Aadmi Party (1), and one Independent MLA, Sheikh Khursheed of Awami Ittehad Party (AIP). People's Conference's Sajad Lone has declared to abstain from voting.

AIP spokesperson Firdous Baba told ETV Bharat that the party has yet to decide about their vote in the polls. "Our party leadership will decide in the coming days about which party our MLA will vote for," Baba said.

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