Srinagar: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah held last-minute discussions with his party leaders on Thursday night to fine-tune the strategy for Friday’s Rajya Sabha elections, focusing primarily on securing crucial votes from independent MLAs. To keep the energy levels up during the marathon session, the team relied on a steady flow of pakoras and chai, Abdullah revealed.
National Conference (NC) leaders and alliance members gathered at the chief minister’s office in the assembly complex to work out the electoral arithmetic for the four Upper House seats in Jammu and Kashmir, where voting is currently underway.
Sharing a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes preparations, Abdullah posted pictures from his office on social media platform X, writing:
“Behind the scenes in my office in the assembly complex while we work out the arithmetic and strategy of the Rajya Sabha polls. Sustenance comes from a regular supply of paneer and onion pakodas and canteen chai.”
This is the first Rajya Sabha election in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 and the state’s bifurcation into two Union Territories on August 5, 2019.
The Election Commission of India has issued three separate notifications for the four seats — two under individual notifications and two under a common one.
In the contests, NC’s Chowdhury Mohammed Ramzan is pitted against BJP’s Ali Mohammed Mir, while Sajjad Kitchloo of NC faces BJP’s Rakesh Mahajan. For the two seats under the third notification, NC has fielded its treasurer G.S. (Shammi) Oberoi and spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar against BJP’s Sat Sharma.
Both the NC and PDP issued three-line whips to ensure their MLAs vote in favour of the ruling party candidates. The PDP and Congress have officially extended support to the NC.
Numerically, the NC-led alliance appears well-placed to secure three of the four seats. The NC, with 41 MLAs, has the backing of six Congress, three PDP, one CPM, and six Independent legislators — a total of 57 in the 88-member House.
However, the contest for the fourth seat remains neck-and-neck. The BJP, which holds 28 seats in the Assembly, has fielded its state unit chief Sat Sharma in that round.
