SRI NAGAR: For the first time in the history of Jammu and Kashmir a BJP nominee and two PDP leaders have been elected to the Rajya Sabha from the state, even as senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad was re-elected to the Upper House of Parliament, retaining his Leader of Opposition (LoP) status.
The NC candidates, however, tasted defeat in the polls.
The election to four Rajya Sabha seats in the state was held in Jammu on Saturday. In total, seven candidates -- two each from the PDP, BJP and the NC, and Azad, a joint candidate of the NC-Congress -- were in the fray.
All four parties contested the polls separately, but under seat-sharing arrangements.
The PDP, with 28 seats, is the single largest party in the 87-member J&K Assembly, followed by the BJP with 25 seats, the NC with 15 and the Congress with 12 seats. The House also has two members from separatist-turned-politician Sajjad Lone’s Peoples Conference (PC), besides five independents.