NEW DELHI : The BJP today announced Shamsher Singh and Chander Mohan Sharma as party candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls in Jammu and Kashmir scheduled for February 7. BJP national president Amit Shah announced their candidature, a party statement here said. The state Election Commission has already issued notification for the biennial polls to four Rajya Sabha seats of Jammu and Kashmir.
The polls are considered to be a catalyst for the government formation in the state which witnessed a fractured mandate in recent Assembly polls. The state is currently under the Governor’s Rule.
The last date for filing of nomination papers is January 28. The four members whose terms are expiring by February 15 are Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Saif-ud-Din Soz and National Conference (NC) leaders Ghulam Nabi Wani and Mohammad Shafi.
Giving the present numbers situation in the 87-member Assembly,
no party has required numbers to win the four seats on its own. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has 28 seats followed by the BJP which has 25 seats.
Both the NC (15) and the Congress (12) do not have the required number of seats to elect their candidates to the upper house of Parliament.
According to sources, the BJP-PDP tie is almost ‘full and final’ behind the scene and the picture is almost clear with parties deciding to contest two seats each in the RS polls. The PDP has decided to field Nazir Ahmad Laway and Fayaz Ahmad Mir as the party candidates for the two RS seats. (agencies)
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