Political Parties set to announce candidates for Rajya Sabha polls

Srinagar : With Rajya Sabha elections in Jammu & Kashmir scheduled for October 24, political parties are preparing to announce the names of their candidates.

Sources told news agency that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to finalize its candidate (s) later today. “The names of the candidate (s) are likely to be announced today,” they said, adding that former state president Ravinder Raina has emerged as the frontrunner.

Others in the race include Sunil Sethi (chief spokesman J&K BJP unit), Nirmal Singh (former deputy chief minister) and Sat Sharma (state president).

It is still unclear whether the BJP will field only one candidate for the third seat-where a combined election will be held for two seats-or contest the other two seats as a symbolic challenge to the ruling NC-led alliance.

The National Conference is expected to nominate veteran politician Dr. Farooq Abdullah and former Minister of State for Home Sajad Kichloo for the two safe seats. It remains uncertain who will be their candidate for the competitive seat, where coalition MLAs have 24 spare votes compared to the BJP’s 28 votes.

Sources revealed that the Congress is likely to field its candidate from mainland Jammu, a region where the party has not won a seat in any election since 2014.

According to them, Udhay Bhanu Chib (President of the Indian Youth Congress) and Raman Bhalla (former minister) have emerged as key contenders for the ticket.

Chib is the second person from Jammu and Kashmir to become President of the Indian Youth Congress, following Ghulam Nabi Azad, who held the position in 1980. He holds an engineering degree from Pune University and an MBA from Arni University in Himachal Pradesh.

Sources also indicated that the possibility of Ghulam Ahmad Mir (MLA) being nominated as the Congress candidate cannot be ruled out—(KNO)