Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah may be elected to the Rajya Sabha once the Union Territory’s new assembly is formally constituted.
86-year-old Abdullah has served as the chief minister of the erstwhile state of J&K thrice (1982-84, 1986-90 and 1996-2002) and was elected to Lok Sabha in the 1980, 2009 and 2014 elections. He also served as the Minister of New & Renewable Energy in the UPA government -led by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh (2009-14).
Local news agency KNO while quoting the sources in the NC said that there is a consensus within the party that Mr. Abdullah should go to Rajya Sabha to represent it and the people of J&K by raising the issues they face.
As per the rule, newly elected members of the J&K Assembly will elect four members for the Rajya Sabha once the notification is issued by the Election Commission of India. It would be after more than three and half years that J&K MLAs will elect their four representatives to the Upper House of the bicameral Parliament of India. Ghulam Ali Khatana, a Gujjar leader, is currently the sole Rajya Sabha representative from J&K, serving as a nominated member of the BJP.
Under Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act 2019 passed by the Parliament, the Union Territory of J&K was allotted 90-member Assembly, five Lok Sabha and four Rajya Sabha seats. J&K already had four Rajya Sabha and six Lok Sabha seats which were reduced to five as Ladakh carved out of the erstwhile state of J&K as a separate UT retained the sole seat in the Lok Sabha.
The last election to four seats of Rajya Sabha from J&K (including Ladakh) was held in February 2015 when the PDP-BJP alliance won three seats, and the NC-Congress combine one seat. All of them retired in February 2021. The elections to the Assembly of J&K UT were held in three phases from September 18 after a gap of ten years. Ladakh does not have an assembly but two separate Hill Development Councils for Leh and Kargil regions.
