Chances of BJP winning seat in J&K Rajya Sabha polls brighten after Sajad Lone decides to abstain from voting

SRINAGAR: The chances of J&K BJP chief Sat Pal Sharma securing a seat in the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls from Jammu and Kashmir have brightened after People's Conference chairman and MLA Sajad Gani Lone on Tuesday announced that he would abstain from the voting. I will not vote for the NC candidate in the RS polls. I will die but never vote for NC. I would have voted for Congress or any other secular party if they had fielded a candidate. How would I face my workers if I vote for NC, Sajad told reporters. Sajad is the sole MLA of the People's Conference in the Assembly. With Sajad making his stand on the Rajya Sabha polls clear, it now remains to be seen what would be the strategy of other opposition non-BJP members including the PDP with three MLAs, AIP with one MLA, AAP with one MLA (who is in jail) and an independent MLA Shabir Kuchay. There are four vacant Rajya Sabha seats from J&K and polling for the seats will be held on October 24. The ruling NC has fielded four candidates while the BJP has nominated three candidates for four seats. As the NC alliance has the support of 53 members in the present 88-member J&K Assembly as against 28 by the BJP, the ruling party is all set to win three seats. While the NC is assured of winning three seats, the BJP can win the fourth if a few of the opposition non-BJP MLAs abstain. If all non-BJP opposition MLAs vote for the NC, then its fourth candidate Imran Nabi Dar can also win but if any of the two members abstain, then victory of the BJP candidate is certain. The lone AAP MLA Mehraj Malik is unlikely to cast his vote as he is under detention under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) in Kathua jail. The Rajya Sabha election is a high-stakes contest for both the ruling NC and opposition BJP as both parties are trying to strengthen their position in J&K. The four Rajya Sabha seats from J&K had fallen vacant in February 2021 after the end of the terms of PDP MPs Mir Mohammad Fayaz and Nazir Ahmed Laway, BJP MP Shamsher Singh and former Congress MP Ghulam Nabi Azad.