NC wins three seats, BJP one in J&K's 1st RS polls after becoming UT

The National Conference (NC) on Friday secured a commanding victory in the first Rajya Sabha elections held in Jammu and Kashmir since it became a Union Territory, winning three of the four seats at stake.

- MPOST BUREAU

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed the remaining seat, reportedly aided by cross-voting from a few Independents and The abstention of the PeoT ple's Conference.

Polling for the four Upper House seats was conducted under three notifications, with the Legislative Assembly Secretary M K Pandita serving as the returning officer. Of the 87 votes cast, 86 were deemed valid across the three stages. NC's Chowdhury Ramzan defeated BJP's Ali Mohammed Mir for the first seat, Sajjad Kichloo (NC) defeated Rakesh Mahajan (BJP) for the second, and NC's Shammi Oberoi won the third seat. In the first contest, Chowdhry Mohammed Ramzan of the NC defeated BJP's Ali Mohammed Mir by a wide margin. Ramzan secured 58 votes, while Mir managed 28, consistent with the BJP's assembly strength. One vote was declared invalid.

The second seat followed a similar trend. NC candidate Sajjad Kitchloo garnered 57 votes against BJP's Rakesh Mahajan, who polled 29. Two votes were rejected.

The third notification brought the closest contest of the day, involving NC candidates G S Oberoi (also known as Shammi Oberoi) and Imran Nabi Dar against BJP's J&K unit president Sat Sharma. Oberoi received 31 votes, Dar got 21, and Sharma secured 32 votes, giving the BJP its lone win.

Three votes were invalid.