Atul Sharma
Early Times Report
Jammu, Oct 12: Ending days of suspense and political speculation, the BJP on Sunday announced its candidates for three Rajya Sabha seats from Jammu and Kashmir.
The party’s Central Election Committee (CEC) has approved the names of Dr. Ali Mohammad Mir, Rakesh Mahajan, and Sat Pal Sharma for the upcoming biennial Rajya Sabha elections, which will be held under three separate notifications issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
According to the official communication issued from the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, Dr. Ali Mohammad Mir has been nominated under the first notification, Rakesh Mahajan under the second, and J&K BJP president Sat Pal Sharma under the third notification, which covers two seats.
Party sources said the BJP high command is confident that its nominees will effectively represent the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and strengthen the party’s organisational presence and political outreach in the Union Territory.
Significantly, Sat Pal Sharma’s candidature under the third notification is being viewed as a clear indication that the BJP is in a strong position to secure that particular Rajya Sabha seat. The other two candidates, Dr. Mir and Mahajan, are expected to contest largely as a formality, as the ruling National Conference (NC)-led alliance is comfortably placed to win the other three seats.
Earlier, the Election Commission had issued three separate notifications to fill four Rajya Sabha vacancies from Jammu and Kashmir, citing that the vacancies fall under different election cycles. The polls will involve the same 88 legislators who will cast their votes three times to elect four members to the Upper House.
Quoting a 1994 Delhi High Court ruling, the ECI clarified, “These four vacancies are being filled by holding three separate elections, in accordance with the law on the subject, as each vacancy falls under a distinct cycle.”
Legislative Assembly Secretary Manoj Kumar Pandit, who has been appointed as the Returning Officer, has issued two notificatio s for one seat each and one for two seats.
The election process will take place within the Legislative Assembly complex in Srinagar, coinciding with the Assembly session beginning October 23. Candidates can file their nomination papers until October 13, while scrutiny will be conducted at 11 a.m. on October 14 in the Returning Officer’s office. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is October 16. If required, polling will be held on October 24 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., with counting scheduled for 5 p.m. the same day.
The ECI has emphasized that all nomination papers and supporting documents must strictly adhere to prescribed guidelines. Each candidate, including those from recognised national or state parties, must be proposed by at least ten MLAs and must submit an official party mandate. Any deviation from these norms will result in rejection of nomination papers, officials warned.
Among the parties, only the National Conference (NC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) enjoy double-digit representation in the newly elected 90-member Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, which currently has 88 voting MLAs due to two vacancies.
The NC-led alliance, which includes the Congress, CPM, and a few Independents, commands the support of over 50 legislators—enough to comfortably secure three of the four Rajya Sabha seats. The BJP, with 28 MLAs, is expected to win one seat, likely under the notification covering two vacancies.
The present composition of the Assembly includes 41 MLAs from the NC, 28 from the BJP, six from the Congress, three from the PDP, and one each from the People’s Conference, CPM, and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), in addition to seven Independents. The lone AAP MLA from Doda, Mehraj Malik, remains under detention under the Public Safety Act (PSA).
With the stage now set, the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections are expected to reflect the current political alignments within the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, further consolidating the NC-led alliance’s dominance while reaffirming the BJP’s strong organisational base in the region. |
