Voting Begins for Rajya Sabha Polls in Jammu & Kashmir

Srinagar: Voting for the Rajya Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir began on Friday morning, with the National Conference (NC) aiming to secure all four seats and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) confident about winning the fourth.

MLAs started arriving at the Legislative Assembly complex early in the day to cast their votes at three polling booths set up inside the premises.

While the National Conference is expected to comfortably win three seats, the fourth seat has turned into a close contest, as both NC and BJP currently hold an equal number of votes. However, the BJP’s chances have weakened after the Congress, PDP, and independent MLA Shabir Kulley extended support to the NC.

According to the current political arithmetic, NC candidates are backed by 57 MLAs—comprising 41 from NC, six from Congress, six independents, three from PDP, and one from CPI(M). The BJP has the support of 28 MLAs, while the votes of Mehraj Malik and Sheikh Khursheed remain uncertain. Malik, who is detained under the Public Safety Act, cast his vote on Monday inside Kathua district jail.

NC leaders Choudhary Muhammad Ramzan and Sajjad Kichloo are expected to win the first two seats comfortably with 57 votes each against BJP’s 28.

The real contest lies in the combined election for the third and fourth seats among Gurwinder Singh Oberoi, Imran Dar (both from NC), and Sat Sharma (BJP). The two candidates with the highest votes will be declared winners.

For these two seats, the ruling alliance is likely to split votes—29 for Oberoi and 28 for Imran Dar—while the BJP’s 28 MLAs are expected to back Sat Sharma.

Unless cross-voting occurs within the ruling bloc, political observers believe the BJP’s chances of securing a seat are minimal. The internal vote distribution within the alliance will ultimately decide the outcome of the closely fought fourth seat.