The National Conference’s refusal to offer a ‘safe seat’ to Congress in the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls has strained the relationship between the allies in Jammu and Kashmir.
As a consequence, the Congress has decided to withdraw from the elections.
In the 90-member Assembly, the NC and the Congress have 48 members (NC 42 and Congress 6). With the support of five Independents and the CPI(M), the NC-Congress alliance has 53 members, the BJP has 28, the PDP 3, and the AIP, PC and AAP one each.
The current strength of the Assembly is 88 due to the death of a BJP MLA and the vacating of one of the two seats, Budgam, from where Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was elected.
Given the numbers game, the NC is safe in three of the four Rajya Sabha seats. The fourth seat that the NC has offered to the Congress gives the BJP an edge.
The Congress has called the seat ‘risky’, forcing the party not to contest.
“Since a safe seat was not available, we have decided not to nominate our candidate for the seat offered by the NC,” JKPCC chief Tariq Hameed Karra said.
He said they sought one of the first two Rajya Sabha seats, but were instead offered seat number four, which he described as “risky.”
Congress not to participate in Rajya Sabha elections in J&K: Tariq Hameed Karra pic.twitter.com/5NCuJf94pX
— Daily Excelsior (@DailyExcelsior1) October 12, 2025
Karra said the party's decision to pull out of the race was taken at a meeting attended by AICC General Secretary and CLP Leader G.A. Mir, Working President Raman Bhalla, Peerzada Sayeed, Mula Ram, Choudhary Lal Singh and all six Congress MLAs.
The Congress chief further said that the party has formally communicated its stance to the NC leadership.
“We sent an official letter to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah outlining our position. He directed us to forward it to party president Dr Farooq Abdullah, which we have done. So far, we have not received any reply,” Karra said.
Expressing “dismay” over the NC’s unilateral announcement of three Rajya Sabha candidates, Karra said the fourth seat offered to Congress was “not acceptable.”
The four Rajya Sabha seats fell vacant in Jammu and Kashmir in February 2021. The Election Commission of India announced elections to fill the Rajya Sabha vacancies from Jammu and Kashmir nine months after the Assembly elections were held in the Union Territory.
