Srinagar: AICC general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir on Monday said the National Conference (NC) should have consulted all like-minded parties before finalising its candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaking to reporters in Anantnag, Mir expressed confidence that no non-BJP MLA would vote for the BJP’s candidates in the polls.
The biennial elections to fill four vacant Rajya Sabha seats from Jammu and Kashmir — unoccupied since 2021 — are scheduled for October 24. On the same day, a bypoll will also be held to fill the seat vacated by AAP MP Sanjeev Arora from Punjab.
“The chief minister should have taken all like-minded parties into confidence before announcing the NC candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections,” Mir said.
He noted that out of the 88-member House, 60 MLAs are non-BJP members. “I am confident that the BJP will not secure even one of those 60 votes. The party is facing internal issues and will struggle to manage its own ranks,” he added.
Mir revealed that the Congress had sought a “safe seat” from its ally NC for the Rajya Sabha elections but did not receive a favourable response.
“We wanted to contest one of the first three seats, but the NC offered us the fourth, which was not a safe seat. Hence, the Congress decided not to field a candidate,” he said.
Jammu and Kashmir has had no representation in the Rajya Sabha since February 15, 2021, when the terms of Ghulam Nabi Azad and Nazir Ahmad Laway ended. The terms of Fayaz Ahmad Mir and Shamsher Singh Manhas also expired on February 10 of the same year.
