The ruling National Conference (NC) in Jammu and Kashmir has secured three of the four Rajya Sabha seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the fourth, as results for the high-stakes elections were declared on Friday.

These were the first Rajya Sabha elections held in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 and the restoration of the Union Territory’s Legislative Assembly. The four seats had remained vacant since 2021, when the terms of Mir Mohammad Fayaz, Shamsher Singh, Ghulam Nabi Azad, and Nazir Ahmed Laway expired during President’s Rule.

The NC’s winning candidates are Chowdhary Mohammad Ramzan, Sajad Kichloo, and Shammi Oberoi, who secured comfortable victories backed by the party’s alliance with the Congress and the CPI(M).
However, the party’s fourth nominee, Imran Nabi Dar, lost to the BJP’s Sat Sharma by a margin of 10 votes, according to PTI.

Following the announcement, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah congratulated his party’s winners, writing on social media:

“Heartiest congratulations to my colleagues Ch Mohd Ramzan Sb, Sajad Kichloo & Shammi Oberoi on their victory in the Rajya Sabha polls. I wish them well as they begin a new innings representing the people of J&K in the Parliament of India.”

Sat Sharma, the BJP’s lone winning candidate, expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior party leaders, calling his victory “a testament to the trust the BJP enjoys across Jammu and Kashmir.”

Omar Abdullah Alleges Irregularities

Omar Abdullah, while congratulating the winners, voiced concern over alleged irregularities in the voting process. He claimed that four MLAs from supporting parties deliberately invalidated their votes by marking incorrect preferences, effectively aiding the BJP’s victory on one seat.

“Do they have the guts to put their hands up and own up to helping the BJP after promising us their votes?” Abdullah asked on X (formerly Twitter). “What pressure or inducement helped them make this choice?”

He insisted that no cross-voting occurred from NC’s own MLAs, citing the election agent’s observation that all polling slips from the party were intact. According to PTI, the BJP, which holds 28 MLAs, polled 32 votes, indicating possible outside support.

Earlier, both the Congress and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had pledged support to the NC-led alliance. However, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti clarified that her party would back only three of the NC’s four candidates, leaving the contest for the fourth seat open to uncertainty.