SRINAGAR, JAN 29: With the eagerly awaited election of 56 Rajya Sabha members scheduled for the upcoming month, Jammu and Kashmir finds itself excluded from this electoral process.
The absence of a legislative assembly in the Union Territory poses a unique challenge, preventing it from participating in the election to appoint representatives for the upper house.
The void in representation stems from the retirement of the four Rajya Sabha members from the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir in February 2021. Since their retirement, the seats allocated to J&K have remained unoccupied. The intricate constitutional dynamics of the region, coupled with the absence of an elected legislative assembly, have resulted in a notable exclusion from the impending Rajya Sabha elections, leaving the Union Territory without representation in the upper house.
The absence of Rajya Sabha representation for Jammu and Kashmir is rooted in the dissolution of its legislative assembly on November 21, 2018, and the subsequent absence of fresh elections. With the assembly’s dissolution, the mechanism to elect new Rajya Sabha members from the Union Territory became dormant, leaving the seats vacant.
The year 2021 marked the conclusion of the terms of Rajya Sabha members from J&K, including Nazir Ahmed Laway (PDP) and Shamsher Singh Manhas (BJP) on February 10, and Ghulam Nabi Azad (Congress) and Mir Muhammed Fayaz (PDP) on February 15. Notably, Laway and Mir are no longer affiliated with the PDP; they had severed ties with the party before their Rajya Sabha terms concluded and later joined the People’s Conference.
Ghulam Nabi Azad, a prominent political figure, had been elected to the Rajya Sabha multiple times from Jammu and Kashmir. His significant role in national politics was evident when he was appointed as the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha in 2014, following the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance’s victory in the Lok Sabha polls and the formation of a new government at the Centre.
election to the Rajya Sabha from Jammu and Kashmir in 2015, a period when the PDP-BJP coalition held the majority of seats in the assembly and governed the erstwhile state. Despite the prevailing political dynamics, Azad’s political acumen and support allowed him to retain his position in the upper house.
It is worth noting that Ghulam Nabi Azad has chosen to form his own party DPAP, after leaving Congress.
Election Commission on Monday released the date for the Rajya Sabha elections to 56 seats from 15 states of India. The election body said that the elections for the membership of the Upper House of the Parliament will be conducted on 27 February. The states where the elections for the Rajya Sabha are scheduled to occur encompass Uttar Pradesh (10), Maharashtra (6), Bihar (6), West Bengal (5), Madhya Pradesh (5), Gujarat (4), Karnataka (4), Andhra Pradesh (3), Telangana (3), Rajasthan (3), Odisha (3), Uttarakhand (1), Chhattisgarh (1), Haryana (1), and Himachal Pradesh (1).
