National Conference fields candidates on all four Rajya Sabha seats in J&K

The ruling National Conference (NC) on Monday, October 13, 2025, decided to field candidates for all four Rajya Sabha seats in the by-elections scheduled to be held on October 24. The announcement came a day after coalition partner Congress expressed unhappiness and decided against fielding any candidate. Meanwhile, the BJP has fielded candidates for three seats in Jammu and Kashmir.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and NC vice president Omar Abdullah said, “Congress was offered one seat but they decided not to field candidates. We felt that the fourth seat offered the best chance of victory for the Congress. But they felt otherwise. We will field candidates on all four seats.”

There is increasing friction between the NC and the Congress over the Rajya Sabha elections. The Congress accused the former of refusing to give him a safe seat as promised and said he was forced to stay out of the contest.

NC named party spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar as the fourth candidate. All four NC candidates, including Mr. Dar, Choudhary Muhammad Ramzan, Sajad Kichloo and Shammi Oberoi, filed their nomination papers on Monday.

This paved the way for a direct contest between the ruling NC and the Opposition BJP in the by-elections in J&K. The BJP filed nominations for three seats.

assembly composition

The 90-member J&K Legislative Assembly currently has 88 legislators and two seats are vacant in Budgam and Nagrota. The NC-Congress combine has 52 legislators, including 41 from NC, six from Congress and five Independents. The BJP has 27 MPs, the People’s Democratic Party has three, the J&K People’s Conference and Engineer Rashid’s Awami Ittehad Party have one each.

Three notifications were issued for four seats. The NC is in a comfortable position for two, but for the third it will need the support of Independents and smaller parties like PDP, JKPC and AIP.

“BJP is trailing by two legislators and needs 30 votes to win the fourth seat. Except 27, no MLA has supported them in the last one year. What can win them seats in J&K is money power, muscle power and influence of institutions. This election will show who is for the BJP and who is against it. Anyone who abstains or supports the BJP will be known,” Abdullah said.

The BJP is confident of winning more than one seat, he said. At the Prime Minister’s Office, Minister of State Jitendra Singh and Rajya Sabha MP Ghulam Ali Khatana filed their nominations on Monday while the party’s three candidates Sat Sharma, Dr. He accompanied Ali Muhammad Mir and Rakesh Mahajan.

“There is no question of cross-polling or related issues. Our candidates will emerge victorious in the Rajya Sabha elections,” Mr. Singh said.

BJP candidate Sharma said the party has gained support in Kashmir. “These elections will make history. We will make every effort to win more than one seat. People are not happy with the NC, which only talks about the state and does no work,” he said.

BJP’s Kashmir candidate Dr. Mir said the party’s decision to field candidates from the Muslim-majority Valley was a historic moment. “I am honored to be given this responsibility by the leadership of our nation,” he said.