SRINAGAR: Amid growing strains with its ally, the National Conference (NC), over its snub for not leaving a safe Rajya Sabha seat for the party, the Congress is yet to take a call on supporting the ruling party's candidates in the October 24 Rajya Sabha polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
With six MLAs, the Congress holds a crucial role, especially in the tightly contested fourth RS seat, where the NC candidate relies on the support of all non-BJP votes.
With six MLAs in the 88-member J&K Assembly, Congress holds a crucial position in the contest for the fourth Rajya Sabha seat, in which the BJP holds a slight numerical edge. While the NC is assured of three of the four vacant seats, it requires the backing of all non-BJP legislators, including the Congress to win the fourth RS seat.
J&K Congress Senior Vice President Ghulam Nabi Monga told TNIE that the party's central leadership is yet to decide on the party's strategy for the Rajya Sabha polls in J&K.
The party’s central leadership is busy and will take a call on the party's RS strategy within a day or two, he said.
When told that elections are scheduled for October 24, Monga said there is still sufficient time for the party to decide its strategy for the RS polls.
The J&K Congress has authorized the party high command to decide whether to support the NC candidates in the RS polls or to abstain.
Only the NC and BJP are contesting the RS polls for the four vacant seats. While the NC has fielded four candidates, the BJP has fielded three candidates.
Congress’s ties with its ally NC have strained after the ruling party refused to leave a “safe” Rajya Sabha seat for the party, despite making a commitment with the party's central leadership, and instead offered an unsafe seat (seat No. 4) to the grand old party.
After the snub, an angry Congress opted out of the RS polls and, as a ‘mark of protest,’ also refused to contest the Nagrota Assembly by-polls on November 11.
The NC had left the Nagrota seat for Congress, but the grand party decided against contesting from the seat.
In the current 88-member J&K Assembly, the NC has 41 MLAs, six independent MLAs are supporting it, while the Congress has six members, the PDP 3, the Peoples Conference 1, the AIP 1, the AAP 1, and one independent, while the BJP has 28 MLAs.
The Peoples Conference chairman and MLA Sajjad Gani Lone has decided to abstain from the RS polls, while the PDP has linked its support to the NC to the passage of two of its private member bills in the J&K Assembly. The AIP MLA and the lone AAP MLA, who is in jail under PSA, are yet to decide whether to support the NC or abstain.
With numbers delicately poised, the NC needs the support of the six MLAs of the Congress, the three of the PDP, the AIP, the AAP, and the independent legislator to win the fourth seat. If the NC candidate gets less than 28 votes, the fourth RS seat will go to the BJP."
