CM Abdullah questions EC’s ‘delay’ in filling vacant J&K Rajya Sabha and Assembly seats

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has voiced concern over the “undue delay” in filling Rajya Sabha seats and conducting bye-elections to two Assembly seats in the Union territory.

The Union territory, with four seats in Rajya Sabha, has been unrepresented in the Upper House of Parliament since February 15, 2021, the day when Ghulam Nabi Azad and Nazir Ahmed Laway finished their term.

Two other members, Fayaz Ahmed Mir and Shamsheer Singh Manhas, had completed their term on February 10, the same year.

In an interview to news agency recently, Abdullah called on the Election Commission (EC) to clarify the reasons for the delay, stating, “We don’t understand... I don’t understand why these elections are being put on the back burner.”

He was replying to questions about by-elections to two Assembly seats -- Nagrota in Jammu and Budgam in Kashmir -- as well as the four vacant seats of Rajya Sabha.

The Nagrota seat fell vacant after BJP leader Davinder Rana passed away immediately after the results were

announced, while the seat in the Kashmir region was vacated by the chief minister, who was also contesting from Ganderbal.

The chief minister said that the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly has had two sessions since the last election, and yet, no polls have been conducted for the Rajya Sabha seats.

“Why has there been no Rajya Sabha election? It takes one day,” he added.

Abdullah contrasted sharply with a previous experience in 2014, when his government sought to postpone state elections because of

massive floods but was informed that polling could not be postponed “under any circumstances”.

Meanwhile, CM Abdullah has unequivocally stated that Pakistan’s “inimical intentions” remain the most formidable challenge to achieving a terror-free Jammu and Kashmir, cautioning Islamabad that India now views any terror attack as an act of war.