NC wins 3, BJP 1 in RS elections for J&K

{ FIRST POLLS SINCE ABROGATION OF ARTICLE 370

- Ashiq Hussain

ence (NC) on Friday won three Rajya Sabha seats and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pulled off a surprising victory in one seat in Jammu & Kashmir, the first time polls for the Upper House was held in the Union Territory since the abrogation of Article 370.

In neighbouring Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party candidate Rajinder Gupta had won his seat unopposed on October 16. The results put the INDIA bloc at 133 seats in the 245-member Upper House, compared to the National Democratic Alliance's 80.

In the Jammu and Kashmir assembly, 86 of the 88 lawmakers physically cast their votes and incarcerated legislator from Doda, Mehraj Malik, used a postal ballot. People’s Conference chief Sajad Lone chose to abstain from voting.

NC's Chowdhary M Ramzan, Sajjad Kichloo and G. S Oberoi won three seats and the BJP’s Satpal Sharma clinched the fourth seat in a nail biting contest, defeating Imran Nabi Dar from the NC and sparking speculation about cross voting.