The National Conference is confident of winning all four seats, while the BJP hopes to win the fourth and much-hyped seat in the ongoing Rajya Sabha elections, voting for which has begun this morning, with the MLAs arriving at the legislative assembly complex to cast their votes at the three polling booths set up inside the premises, officials said.
While the ruling National Conference is expected to easily sweep the three seats, the contest for the fourth seat remains tight, as both the BJP and NC have an equal number of votes. The earlier advantage the BJP had has also diminished with NC securing Congress, PDP and Independent MLA support going into the elections.
Based on the current equation, National Conference candidates have the backing of 57 MLAs, including 41 NC MLAs, six Congress MLAs, six independents, three PDP MLAs, and one CPI(M) MLA.
Meanwhile, the opposition BJP has 28 votes, requiring two more to win, while the votes of Mehraj Malik and Sheikh Khurshid remain undisclosed. Malik has already cast his vote from the Kathua district jail on Monday. The victory of two NC candidates, Sajjad Kichloo and Choudhary Muhammad Ramzan, for the first two seats is certain, as each will secure 57 votes against the BJP’s 28.
Besides the first seats, a combined election is being held on the third and fourth seats, where three candidates are in the fray, including Gurwinder Singh Oberoi, Imran Dar of the National Conference, and Sat Sharma of the BJP, who are locked in a direct contest.
The two candidates receiving the highest share of votes in these combined elections will be declared winners.
For the third and fourth seats, MLAs of the ruling alliance are expected to split their votes between Gurwinder Singh Oberoi and Imran Dar, while all BJP MLAs will vote for Sat Sharma.
The BJP’s only chance comes if the ruling and Kashmir-based parties, along with Independent candidates, prefer cross-voting on the third and fourth seats; without this, the BJP has literally no chance of winning any seat.
Follow us
