The ruling National Conference on Monday appealed to the Election Commission to conduct polls for the Rajya Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir, saying they were long due as more than six months had elapsed since the Assembly elections.
The party also pointed out that the poll panel left out the Budgam and Nagrota Assembly segments in Jammu and Kashmir while announcing bypolls in four states.
“Jammu and Kashmir has a right to representation in the Rajya Sabha. I appeal to the Election Commission to hold elections as soon as possible as there is no representation of Jammu and Kashmir in the Rajya Sabha,” NC chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq told reporters here. “Moreover, everywhere by-elections are taking place except in Budgam and Nagrota. Why is the delay only in Jammu and Kashmir?”
Kashmir’s Budgam Assembly seat fell vacant after chief minister Omar Abdullah vacated it in favour of his home turf Ganderbal. He had contested and won from both places.
The Nagrota Assembly seat fell vacant following the death of BJP MLA Devender Rana soon after the Assembly polls.
The call for elections comes at a time the NC has found itself on a sticky wicket after failing to deliver on most of its promises. Statehood remains a mirage despite repeated promises of restoration by the Centre.
The Pahalgam terror attack and the India-Pakistan conflict have compounded the government’s problems. Many people in border areas lost their lives and properties because of Pakistani shelling while the economy suffered a major blow.
The party is facing questions from within for softening its stand on the restoration of Article 370, with Srinagar MP Aga Ruhullah Mehdi on Saturday walking out of a meeting following a disagreement.
Ruhullah has accused the leadership of abandoning the core promises that it made to people in the election manifesto.
Sources said the MP told the meeting that Jammu and Kashmir had voted for the party to fight for the restoration of Article 370 and not for day-to-day governance
or statehood.
Ruhullah later posted a Kashmiri couplet by Janbaaz Kishtwari on his X handle, suggesting a rift. “Either rise and become such a sukhanvar (orator) who serves a purpose for the nation; Or sit in the comfort of the zanpaan (palanquin),” he wrote.
Sadiq, however, played down the rift and claimed Ruhullah was present throughout the discussions.