Srinagar, Oct 3: Jammu and Kashmir is set to witness a significant political milestone as the process to fill its four vacant Rajya Sabha seats will commence following the successful culmination of Assembly elections. This development marks the first time in over three and a half years that elected representatives from Jammu and Kashmir will be sent to the Upper House of Parliament.
According to officials, the Election Commission of India (ECI) will issue the notification for the elections once the newly elected Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) take their oath. Currently, Ghulam Ali Khatana is the sole Rajya Sabha member from Jammu and Kashmir, but he holds his seat as a nominated MP rather than an elected one.
The last election to Jammu and Kashmir’s four Rajya Sabha seats was held in February 2015. At that time, the then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) coalition won three of the four seats, with the remaining seat going to the National Conference-Congress alliance. PDP candidates Fayaz Ahmad Mir and Nazir Ahmad Laway, along with BJP’s Shamsher Singh Manhas, were elected, while Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Congress secured the final seat. Azad, a former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, was a prominent figure in the Rajya Sabha during his tenure.
Once the MLAs are sworn in, the ECI will initiate the process to elect the four new Rajya Sabha members. The election process involves the issuance of three notifications—one election for two seats and two separate elections for one seat each. The composition of the newly elected Legislative Assembly will play a pivotal role in determining which parties secure the four Rajya Sabha seats.
In 2015, when the PDP and BJP were on the verge of forming an alliance to govern Jammu and Kashmir, the two parties won three of the Rajya Sabha seats, while the National Conference-Congress alliance secured the fourth. At that time, the PDP held 28 seats in the Assembly, BJP had 26, National Conference 15, Congress 12, while smaller parties such as the People’s Conference, CPM, and AIP held a few seats, along with some Independents.
This is not the first time Jammu and Kashmir has been without representation in the Rajya Sabha. From 1989 to 1996, during President’s Rule in the then-state, four Rajya Sabha members retired—two in 1992 and two in 1994—without successors being elected. There was no representation from Jammu and Kashmir in the Rajya Sabha between April 1994 and October 1996. However, after the Assembly elections in 1996, the National Conference government led by Dr. Farooq Abdullah ensured the election of Dr. Karan Singh, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Saif-ud-Din Soz, and Sharif-ud-Din Shariq to the Upper House in November 1996.
Ghulam Nabi Azad, who has been a key figure in Jammu and Kashmir politics for decades, held a Rajya Sabha seat almost continuously from 1996 until February 2021, barring a two-and-a-half-year gap when he served as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir from November 2005. Azad resigned from the Rajya Sabha when he took on the Chief Minister’s role, marking a brief hiatus from his parliamentary duties.
As Jammu and Kashmir moves towards a more structured democratic process post-reorganization, the filling of the Rajya Sabha seats is seen as an essential step in restoring the region’s representation at the national level. The outcome of the Rajya Sabha elections will reflect the political shifts in the region following the most recent Assembly elections and will likely have broader implications for the political landscape in Jammu and Kashmir. The race for these four seats promises to be a crucial moment for the region’s major political parties, including the BJP, National Conference, PDP, and Congress.
