J&K Rajya Sabha poll spat pushes NC-Congress alliance to brink

SRINAGAR: Congress withdrew Monday from adjacent week’s Rajya Sabha elections to 4 seats from J&K, accusing its spouse National Conference (NC) of denying it a “safe seat” adjacent arsenic the governing enactment nominated its 4th candidate, pushing the INDIA bloc partners to the brink of a split.The strains deepened amid a welter of claims and counterclaims, with Congress accusing main curate Omar Abdullah’s enactment of pushing it to contention from a “weak” 4th spot successful the October 24 polls- the archetypal RS elections successful the Union territory since the abrogation of Article 370 successful 2019.J&K Congress president Tariq Hamid Karra wondered if NC wished to stay portion of INDIA bloc. “NC has caused large harm to the spot betwixt the partners,” Karra said Monday.

He accused NC of backtracking connected its committedness to connection a “secure seat” contempt discussions with Congress nationalist president Mallikarjun Kharge. “We volition consult the cardinal enactment earlier deciding whether to enactment successful the voting,” Karra said.The comments raised the anticipation of abstentions that could assistance BJP. Leader of opposition, BJP’s Sunil Sharma, predicted a triumph successful each 3 seats his enactment is contesting.

“Our triumph is assured,” Sharma said and claimed Congress was “denied a accidental astatine the past moment” by NC.Omar rejected claims that Congress was offered a “weak” seat. “We believed Congress could person won that spot but they thought otherwise,” helium said. NC had earlier named 3 candidates, Sajad Kichloo, Choudhary Muhammad Ramzan, and Shammi Oberoi. On Monday, it fielded spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar arsenic the 4th nominee.Omar stressed that the RS elections would amusement “who are with BJP and who are against it”. He rejected BJP’s claims of winning 3 seats, saying that would beryllium imaginable lone done horse-trading. “They (BJP) request 30 votes to triumph the 4th spot but person lone 28. No MLA extracurricular their ain enactment has supported them successful the past year. Anyone from non-BJP parties who abstains volition marque his presumption wide earlier people,” Omar said.J&K’s assembly has 90 seats but its existent spot is 88. NC has 41 MLAs, Congress six, and CPI(M) one. NC besides enjoys the enactment of 5 independents, giving the governing confederation a spot of 53. BJP has 28 MLAs, PDP three, Peoples Conference 1 and AAP one.