Srinagar, Oct 10: The National Conference (NC) leadership is holding key consultations with the Congress in Delhi tonight to finalize seat-sharing for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from Jammu and Kashmir.
Sources told Kashmir News Service (KNS) that the talks are focused on deciding which of the four seats will go to the Congress under the existing NC–Congress pre-poll arrangement, which allots one seat to the Congress. “The seat is reserved for Congress — the question is which slot and from which notification they will file,” a senior leader said.
With voting for each seat to be held separately, party strategists are working to avoid contests by carefully sequencing nominations. The NC, which has 42 MLAs, along with six from Congress and support from six Independents, holds a bloc of about 54 legislators—enough to secure two seats comfortably. However, the alliance still needs at least four more votes to ensure control in all contests, possibly drawing support from the PDP, People’s Conference, AAP, or Awami Itehad Party.
A Congress leader said the Delhi meeting aims to “finalize the party’s seat and secure the numbers.” Meanwhile, the BJP, with 28 seats, is closely monitoring the notifications and may push for contests if opposition ranks remain divided.
The discussions have also touched on informal arrangements for upcoming Assembly bypolls, with Budgam likely to go to the NC and Nagrota to the Congress.
Political analysts view the Delhi huddle as a key test of NC–Congress coordination ahead of future elections. The final seat allocation is expected to be announced once the alliance locks in its numbers.
