After govt formation, NC to send Dr Farooq Abdullah to Rajya Sabha

Srinagar, Oct 11 (IANS) After the National Conference-led government headed by Omar Abdullah takes office in Jammu and Kashmir, it will send party President and former Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah to the Rajya Sabha, party sources said on Friday. 

NC sources said the party has already decided to nominate Dr Abdullah to the Rajya Sabha. Due to the absence of an elected Assembly, no member from J&K was elected to the Rajya Sabha during the last three and half years.

The only Rajya Sabha member this time is Ghulam Ali Khatana, who was nominated to represent the Gujjar community in the Parliament. The previous Rajya Sabha election was held in J&K in 2015. The upcoming J&K Assembly can elect 4 Rajya Sabha members once the EC issues the notification for elections to the upper house of Parliament from J&K.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Dr Abdullah won from the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency while Justice (ret) Hasnain Masoodi and Mohammad Akbar Lone won elections from Anantnag and Baramulla Lok Sabha constituencies, respectively. All three Lok Sabha seats from the Valley were won by the National Conference while the two seats in the Jammu region were won by the BJP.

Meanwhile, in a development related to government formation, the Independent candidate from Mendhar, Muzaffar Iqbal Khan, also announced his decision to support the National Conference government. Of the 7 Independent candidates who won the Assembly election in J&K, five have now decided to support Omar Abdullah’s claim to power. These are Pyare Lal Sharma, Satish Sharma, Mohammad Akram Choudhary, and Dr Rameshwar Singh in addition to Muzaffar Iqbal Khan.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Doda Assembly constituency, Mehraj Malik has also said he would support the NC.

The NC has 42 members, and its allies Congress and CPI-M, six and one, respectively. The BJP has 29, the PDP three, the AAP and the Peoples Conference one each, apart from the seven Independents. While 90 members of the Assembly were elected, 5 members are to be nominated by the Lt Governor on the recommendation of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. Under the J&K Reorganisation Act 2019, read with the J&K Reorganisation Amendment Act 2013, all five nominated members have the right to vote during government formation.

--IANS

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