Srinagar, Oct 23 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president, Mehbooba Mufti, on Thursday announced that her party would support the National Conference (NC) for the third Rajya Sabha seat, but not the 4th seat.
The PDP support was announced in a statement by Mufti that followed rounds of negotiations among opposition parties ahead of the October 24 Rajya Sabha voting.
Mehbooba Mufti clarified that the PDP’s three MLAs would vote for the NC candidate on the third seat in a show of broader opposition unity, but stopped short of offering unconditional backing for the additional, fourth seat.
“Our support is for the third seat only and not for the fourth,” Ms Mufti, while underlining that the party’s priorities remain focused on preserving regional interests and ensuring a balanced representation of Jammu and Kashmir in Parliament.
NC is vying for three Rajya Sabha seats and was seeking support from allied parties to improve its numbers.
The Congress has opted not to contest for the fourth seat, citing electoral arithmetic and internal differences over safe seat allocation.
NC has nominated four candidates for the four Rajya Sabha seats. NC candidates are Mohammad Ramzan Chowdhary, Sajad Kichloo, Shami Oberoi and Imran Nabi Dar.
BJP has nominated its candidates for three Rajya Sabha seats, including its J&K president, Sat Sharma.
While the NC has a clear edge over others in three Rajya Sabha seats, the BJP, with 28 votes, has an edge on the 4th Rajya Sabha seat. All elected MLAs of the J&K legislative assembly are eligible to cast their votes in the Rajya Sabha polls. Voting for all four seats is scheduled tomorrow.
--IANS
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