Will win three Rajya Sabha seats in J&K, claims NC

Srinagar, Oct 4 (IANS) Tanvir Sadiq, ruling National Conference (NC), chief spokesperson and MLA, said on Saturday that his party is in a strong position for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from J&K and is confident of comfortably winning three of the four seats.

“The final decision on whether the NC will contest three or all four seats will be taken by the party leadership in the coming days. NC is in a comfortable position to win three seats in the Rajya Sabha polls. The decision on whether to field candidates for all four will be finalised after consultations within the leadership,” he told reporters.

He further claimed that NC’s internal assessments indicate a clear numerical advantage in the ongoing political landscape.

“We have done our groundwork and are confident of a strong performance. The numbers are in our favour,” he also claimed.

On coordination with the Congress under the INDIA Bloc, the NC Chief Spokesperson said that while demands from alliance partners are natural, the leadership will take decisions based strictly on political realities and numerical strength.

“Demands can be made by anyone, but our leadership will sit together and decide. In the past, we made sacrifices for alliance partners, but this time decisions will be taken carefully based on numbers,” he said.

Tanvir Sadiq said the outcome of the fourth Rajya Sabha seat would be politically significant as it may reflect the level of understanding among parties and test the strength of alliances within the opposition bloc.

“The fourth seat will be crucial as the voting will show how different parties position themselves. It will also reveal the direction of emerging political equations,” he said.

Hinting at possible political manoeuvring, Sadiq said the party remains alert to any attempts at inducements or shifting loyalties during the elections.

“One cannot completely rule out attempts at horse trading in such situations. However, we are confident that the integrity of our legislators and the unity of our party will remain intact,” he said.

He reiterated that the NC leadership, under Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, will take the final call after carefully evaluating the overall political scenario and alliance dynamics.

“The process will be purely consultative and guided by the larger interests of Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.

Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Sunil Sethi has said that the BJP will field candidates for all four Rajya Sabha seats.

A meeting of the BJP core group was held in Jammu today and was chaired by the party’s national general secretary, Tarun Chugh.

MP Jitendra Singh, BJP J&K president Sat Sharma, national executive member Ravinder Raina and others attended the meeting.

The Rajya Sabha polls and the Party’s strategy were discussed during Saturday’s core group meeting.

The Election Commission issued the notification for the Rajya Sabha polls in J&K on September 25, and voting would be held on October 24.

Elections for the Rajya Sabha are being held in J&K after four years since the four seats fell vacant.

--IANS

sq/dan