National Conference fields candidates on all four Rajya Sabha seats in J&K

The ruling National Conference (NC) on Monday (October 13, 2025) decided to field candidates for all four Rajya Sabha seats in the by-elections scheduled for October 24. The announcement came a day after coalition partner Congress expressed unhappiness and decided against fielding any candidate. Meanwhile, the BJP filed nominations for three seats in Jammu and Kashmir.

“One seat was offered to the Congress but they decided not to field a candidate. We felt the fourth seat offered the best chance of victory for the Congress. However, they felt otherwise. We will field candidates on all four seats,” Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and NC vice president Omar Abdullah said.

There is growing friction between the NC and the Congress over the Rajya Sabha elections. The Congress has accused the former of denying it a safe seat as promised and said it was forced to stay out of the contest.

The NC named party spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar as the fourth candidate. All four NC candidates including Mr. Dar, Choudhary Muhammad Ramzan, Sajad Kichloo and Shammi Oberoi submitted their nomination papers on Monday.

This has set the stage for a direct contest between the ruling NC and the Opposition BJP in the by-elections in J&K. The BJP has filed nominations for three seats.

Assembly composition

The 90-member J&K Legislative Assembly currently has 88 legislators as two seats in Budgam and Nagrota are vacant. The NC-Congress combine has 52 legislators, including 41 from the NC, six from the Congress and five Independents. The BJP has 27 legislators, the Peoples Democratic Party has three, while the J&K Peoples Conference and Engineer Rashid’s Awami Ittehad Party have one each.

Three notifications have been issued for the four seats. The NC is comfortably placed for two but would need support from Independents and smaller parties like the PDP, JKPC and AIP for a third.

“The BJP falls short by two legislators and needs 30 votes to win the fourth seat. No MLA other than their 27 have supported them in the last one year. It is money power, muscle power and the influence of agencies that can win them seats in J&K. This election will show who is with the BJP and who is against it. Anyone abstaining or favouring the BJP will be known,” Mr. Abdullah said.

The BJP said it was confident of winning more than one seat. Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh and Rajya Sabha MP Ghulam Ali Khatana accompanied the party’s three nominees Sat Sharma, Dr. Ali Muhammad Mir and Rakesh Mahajan as they filed their nominations on Monday.

“There is no question of cross-voting or related issues. Our candidates will emerge victorious in the Rajya Sabha election,” Mr. Singh said.

BJP candidate Sharma said the party was gaining support in Kashmir. “These elections are going to make history. We will make every effort to win more than one seat. People are unhappy with the NC, which only talks about statehood and does no work,” he said.

Dr. Mir, the BJP’s candidate from Kashmir, said the party’s decision to field a candidate from the Muslim-majority Valley was a historic moment. “I am honoured to be entrusted with this responsibility by the leadership of our nation,” he said.