With Election Commission's decison announced two days back on holding Assembly by- polls across all states and UTs, ruling National Conference has pitched for UT's representation in Upper House of Parliament, asserting Jammu and Kashmir has a right to have its representation in Rajya Sabha.
Talking to reporters here,Chief Spokesperson of the party Tanvir Sadiq he said there was an inordinate delay by Election Commission (EC) in holding the election for Rajya Sabha seat and By-elections for two seats in Nagrota and Budgam Assembly constituency, wondering why only these two seats have been left out in the schedule announced by EC elsewhere.
“Jammu and Kashmir has a right to have a Rajya Sabha seat. It has been around six to seven months but the Election Commission has not conducted Rajya Sabha elections,” he said. Tanvir Sadiq said people of Jammu Kashmir have a right to have their representations in Rajya Sabha. “It should be elected as soon as possible,” he said. He further expressed surprise over delay in holding By-elections in Nagrota and Budgam Assembly constituency.
“It is very important that the Election Commission should take cognizance of this. If the Rajya Sabha seat is represented in the entire country, why is it not represented in Jammu and Kashmir. I think it is very important that besides the Rajya Sabha elections, Bi-elections should be held as soon as possible,” he said. Notably, Rajya Sabha elections are pending since February 2021. The Nagrota seat became vacant following the death of BJP MLA Devender Singh Rana, while the Budgam seat was vacated when Chief Minister Omar Abdullah retained the Ganderbal seat.
The four Rajya Sabha seats from Jammu and Kashmir have remained vacant since February 2021, after the terms of Ghulam Nabi Azad, Shamsher Singh Manhas, Nazir Ahmad Laway, and Fayaz Ahmad Mir ended.The elections for these seats could not be conducted earlier as Jammu and Kashmir was under President’s rule until October 2024.
Meanwhile Tanvir Sadiq further said that the Working Committee was the most important governing body of the National Conference.
The National Conference on Monday appealed to the Election Commission of India to hold elections for the Rajya Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir, while pointing out that more than six months have passed since the Assembly polls.The Jammu and Kashmir ruling party also pointed out that while the poll panel has announced bypolls to Assembly seats in four states, it left out the Budgam and Nagrota assembly segments.
While the Budgam assembly segment fell vacant after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah decided to give it up to retain Ganderbal, the Nagrota assembly seat fell vacant following the death of BJP leader and incumbent MLA Devender Rana soon after last year’s assembly polls.
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