Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Feb 18: After winning three out of four Rajya Sabha seats early this month, the PDP-BJP combine today won five seats of Legislative Council unopposed (3 PDP and 2 BJP) while election would be held for six seats of the Upper House on March 2 as a total of 15 candidates-six each from PDP and BJP, two of National Conference and an Independent filed their nomination papers for a total of 11 seats on last day of nominations today.
“A total of 11 candidates today filed their papers for 11 seats-eight in biennial (regular election) category and three for by-election seats, which had fallen vacant due to election of three MLCs to the Legislative Assembly,” Returning Officer for the elections, Mohammad Ramzan told the Excelsior after last date for filing the papers ended at 3 pm today.
The nomination form of Independent candidate, Ajay Singh Chandel, who has joined fray for four seats of Jammu province, will be rejected tomorrow during scrutiny as it was not accompanied by mandatory signatures of 10 MLAs leaving 14 candidates in the fray. The candidates can withdraw their nomination papers on February 21 while election for six seats would be held on March 2.
Official sources said five candidates of PDP-BJP combine including two from seats reserved for Leh and Kargil (within Kashmir province) and three on by-election seats were through to the Legislative Council as no candidate from any other party (NC-Congress alliance) filed papers against them. However, a formal announcement of unopposed election of five candidates will be made on February 21 i.e. the last day for withdrawal of nomination papers in view of technical formalities, they added.
The five candidates, who have made it to the House of Elders without facing the election included Chering Dorjey (Leh) and Sofi Yusuf (Kashmir), both BJP, Inayat Ali (Kargil), Firdous Tak (Jammu) and Yasir Reshi (Kashmir), all PDP.
Dorjey and Inayat Ali will get full term of six years as they have been elected against regular vacancies. However, Sofi Yusuf and Firdous Tak will get four years term while Reshi will get two years term as they were elected against by-election vacancies under which only remaining term of the candidates, whose election to the Assembly caused the vacancy, is given to the candidates.
Sofi Yusuf has been elected against the vacancy caused by the election of NC leader Abdul Majid Bhat Laram to the Assembly while Firdous Tak was elected against the vacancy created due to the election of another NC leader Devender Singh Rana to the Lower House. Reshi was elected against the seat vacated by PDP leader Mohammad Ashraf Mir.
Rana and Laram had little over four years term left, which Tak and Sofi Yusuf will get while Ashraf Mir had over two years term left, which Reshi will get, sources said.
All five candidates elected unopposed to the Legislative Council filed their nomination papers today. As their victory was certain even in case of contest, the NC-Congress alliance preferred not to field candidates against them unlike February 7 Rajya Sabha elections on which the two parties (NC-Congress) had put up candidates even on the seats considered safe for PDP and BJP.
After unopposed election of five candidates, an interesting battle now will be witnessed on four seats of Jammu province for which one separate election will be held and two seats of Kashmir region for which another election will be held on March 2.
Six candidates today joined fray for four seats of Jammu province. They included Vibodh Gupta, Romesh Arora and Charanjit Singh Khalsa (all BJP), Surinder Choudhary (PDP), Sajjad Ahmad Kitchloo (NC) and Ajit Singh Chandel (Independent).
The Independent candidate, however, will be out of race tomorrow during scrutiny leaving five candidates in the fray.
Of five candidates, sources said, the victory of NC leader Sajjad Kitchloo is certain as NC-Congress have 27 MLAs, which will take him very easily to the Upper House after losing Assembly elections from Kishtwar. Of remaining four candidates, three from BJP and one from PDP, one of them would either opt out of the race on February 21, the last date for withdrawal of nomination papers, leading to unanimous election of remaining four to the Upper House. If all four PDP-BJP combine candidates stayed in the fray, one of them would lose in March 2 elections.
The PDP-BJP combine have support of about 57 MLAs in the Assembly, which they can trifurcate into 19 votes each for three candidates, leading to their victory while Kitchloo will be through even with 27 votes though NC-Congress had gained support of three Independent candidates in the Rajya Sabha elections.
For two seats of Kashmir province on which one election will be held, a total of four candidates today filed their nomination papers including Javed Ahmad Mirchal and Saif-ud-Din Bhat (both PDP), Qaiser Jamsheed Lone (NC) and Dr Drakshan Andrabi (BJP).
Dr Andrabi was last minute inclusion as the BJP had yesterday announced only five candidates for Legislative Council elections.
The election for two seats of Kashmir would almost be replica of Rajya Sabha election for two seats, which PDP and Congress had won while the BJP candidate had lost. Congress candidate and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad had polled 30 votes (NC 15, Congress 12 and Independents 3) while PDP had polled 29 and BJP 28 votes.
Sources said Qaiser can win one of the seats if all three Independent and Others including Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami, Hakim Yasin and Engineer Rashid voted for him like they had done for Azad. However, if they changed sides, Qaiser’s victory can become difficult.
“Even out of three PDP-BJP candidates in fray for two Kashmir seats, one of them would have to either withdraw or lose certainly. Even one more candidate of the combine could lose if Qaiser managed support of Independent MLAs,” sources said.
The elections for eight biennial vacancies are being held as an equal number of MLCs are completing their term between March 9 and 16. They are Ajatshatru Singh (NC now BJP), BR Kundal (Congress), Syed Asgar Ali (PDP) and Khalid Najib Suhrawardhy (NC), all four in Jammu province, Narboo Gialchan (Congress), a seat reserved for Ladakh tehsil of Kashmir province, Aga Syed Ahmad Rizvi (NC), a seat reserved for Kargil tehsil of Kashmir province, Vijay Bakaya (NC) and Syed Mohammad Rafiq Shah (NPP now PDP), two seats of Kashmir province.
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters after PDP candidates filed their nomination papers, PDP spokesman Naeem Akhter said the PDP and BJP are in talks over Government formation in Jammu and Kashmir for the past three weeks. He said a consensus has been arrived on most of the issues and talks are on to iron out differences on “one or two issues”, an apparent reference to AFSPA and Article 370.
However, he refused to comment on the time by which they will announce an alliance to form the coalition Government.
Akhter said that talks are on to achieve a “consensus” on “left out one or two issues” confronting the coalition in the formation of the Government.
He said, “We (PDP) have more issues of convergence… And a few issues, one or two are there, on which consensus has not emerged as yet. Attempts are being made by both the sides to reach consensus on them.”
He said, “both the parties are trying to resolve the areas of divergence and difference as we feel that the Government which is formed should be purposeful Government”. Presently, he added, the PDP-BJP have entered into seat adjustments for Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council elections while they would enter into an alliance after all issues are settled, he added.
Akhtar said, “As soon as we feel that we have overcome major differences, we will take a decision.”
He said that there are still “certain issues” which needed to be sorted out. “But they will get sorted as the parties get into a structured dialogue,” he added.
On the issue of AFSPA and Article 370, Naeem said that AFSPA is not needed in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Whatever issues the PDP has raised in the dialogue process with BJP, which we feel are needed to be resolved, they are in the public domain,” the PDP spokesman said.
“Mufti Sahib (PDP chief Mufti Mohammad Sayeed) has said we need to form an alliance with BJP and that should be an opportunity, a historic opportunity to get Kashmir out of this imbroglio,” he said.
The PDP leader said, “It is an opportunity for the country, J-K and the entire region how can we bring this State out of the state of unrest. We should convert this mandate into an opportunity”.
BJP also said here that talks are going on and once there is a consensus on “some” issues, the process for the formation of government in J-K will start.
BJP State unit chief and Jammu MP, Jugal Kishore Sharma, told reporters after BJP candidates filed nomination papers that there are several issues on which talks are going on. “Once the consensus is achieved (on some issues), the process of the Government formation will begin,” he added
When asked about the time frame, Sharma said, “how can we say that when the talks will end”?
Speaking to reporters after NC candidates filed nomination papers, NC general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar and provincial president Devender Singh Rana described PDP-BJP alliance as “opportunist”. They expressed confidence that the NC will win both seats it was contesting.
Rana attacked BJP and PDP for what it called “delay in the formation of the Government” and said it is being caused “on the issue of the Chief Minister’s post.”
“BJP is batting for three year turn for Chief Minister from PDP and BJP each. The issue is caught up on CM post,” he said.
“All other issues are resolved between BJP and PDP and it is only due to the CM issue that the talks are held up. This is posturing by PDP and BJP. The coalition is already there… See in Rajya Sabha polls and Legislative Council polls they are in coalition,” he said.
Rana claimed that issues of AFSPA and Article 370 have been resolved.
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