None from J&K in Rajya Sabha post February 15

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 5

In the next 10 days, Jammu & Kashmir will be bereft of any representation in the Rajya Sabha, as the terms of all four sitting MPs from the union territory (UT) will come to an end by February 15 and the Legislative Assembly, which elects members of the Upper House, does not exist.

The six-year terms of Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad (Congress) and Nazir Ahmed Laway (PDP) are coming to an end on February 15. The other two — Mir Mohamad Fayaz (PDP) and Shamsher Singh Manhas (BJP) — are going to retire on February 10.

No new member can be elected as the Legislative Assembly stands dissolved in the erstwhile state, which otherwise would have constituted the electoral college for electing the Rajya Sabha members. Now, the elections to the Legislative Assembly will be held only after the delimitation exercise to redraw the boundaries of the electoral constituencies is completed. Sources in the government said, the delimitation process is expected to be completed by March this year. In August 2019, the Centre pushed through constitutional changes divesting the erstwhile state of its special status under Article 370 of the Constitution and reorganised it into two UTs — J&K and Ladakh.

Talking to The Tribune one of the retiring member Fayaz of the PDP said, this was not the first time that the Upper House of Parliament would remain unrepresented from J&K. “It had happened during 1994 and 1996 also. So after 27 years, the House is going to be without a member from J&K”, he said.

He said the government conducted elections for the District Development Council (DDC) and for panchayats. “Similarly, had the government conducted the elections for the state Assembly this situation would not have arisen,” he added

Another retiring member Manhas said, “There is nothing unusual about it. It happens all over the country in the event of no Assembly. Once the delimitation exercise is over and elections to the Legislative Assembly takes place, the Rajya will again be represented by members from J&K.”