SRINAGAR: Three candidates of the BJP on Monday filed their nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha elections being held for four seats of Jammu and Kashmir. The BJP has fielded candidates in three seats.
BJP Jammu and Kashmir president Sat Sharma, Ali Mohammad Mir, and Rakesh Mahajan filed their nominations here, before the Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Manoj Kumar Pandita, who is the returning officer for the polls.
The BJP candidates were accompanied by Union Minister of State in PMO Jitendra Singh and Rajya Sabha member Ghulam Ali Khatana, among others.
Talking to reporters, senior BJP leader and Leader of Opposition in J-K Assembly Sunil Sharma said his party has fielded candidates for three of the four Rajya Sabha seats and all efforts would be made to win all three of them.
“We will do whatever it takes to win all three seats on which we have fielded candidates,” he said.
Earlier, the BJP candidates left the party headquarters at Jawahar Nagar in a procession towards the returning officer’s office.
The candidates were accompanied by most of the party MLAs and other leaders from the Valley.
The Election Commission of India has issued three notifications for the four Rajya Sabha seats in J&K, holding elections separately on two seats while the polls for the other two seats are being held under a common notification.
With an effective strength of 88 MLAs in the current legislative assembly, the BJP, which has 28 MLAs, has a realistic chance of winning only one seat. It will need help from non-BJP MLAs either to vote for its candidates or abstain from voting for the two seats under common notification. (PTI)