SRINAGAR: All Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) of Jammu Kashmir cast their votes in the Rajya Sabha elections held on Friday, with polling concluding smoothly, officials confirmed.
The postal ballot of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Mehraj Malik, who remains in detention, has reached the Returning Officer and will be counted. “The polling has ended but will be formally closed at 4:00 PM,” sources said.
The 88-member Assembly witnessed near-complete participation, barring Peoples Conference (PC) president Sajad Gani Lone, who abstained from voting. Malik, meanwhile, exercised his franchise through postal ballot from detention.
The National Conference (NC), supported by the Congress, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), CPI(M), and several independents, is expected to secure all four seats with a combined strength of 58 votes.
Given the alliance’s numbers, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) faces an uphill task, relying on possible cross-voting from MLAs belonging to the INDIA bloc to claim even one seat. The ruling alliance has 29 votes each for the third and fourth seats, against the BJP’s 28 for its nominee.
Political observers say the PC’s decision to abstain was aimed at avoiding allegations of cross-voting and maintaining equidistance from both the NC and the BJP.
The counting of votes is expected to begin later in the evening.
