Ganesh Kendale
SRINAGAR: With J&K set to get a new govt helmed by his son Omar Abdullah, NC chief Farooq Abdullah is preparing himself to represent the party in the Rajya Sabha, highly placed sources said.
A senior NC leader confirmed the party, which bagged 42 assembly seats in the recently held elections, would send Farooq to the Upper House. “He is a guiding force for us… There is a consensus within the party that Farooq sahab should go to RS to represent NC there and raise the issues of people of J&K.”
Sources in NC said the newly elected legislators will elect four representatives to Rajya Sabha, once a notification is issued by ECI.“At present, Ghulam Ali Khatana is the only Rajya Sabha member representing J&K. He is a Gujjar face and was nominated by BJP with an aim to win their votes in the assembly polls,” said a source.
Under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the J&K assembly can elect five Lok Sabha members and four Rajya Sabha members. The last Rajya Sabha elections in J&K were held in 2015. The NC-Congress alliance had sent then Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad to RS, who became leader of opposition in the House.
