Congress Opts Out of Rajya Sabha Race in J&K: Tariq Hamid Karra Cites “No Safe Seat” in Alliance Dispute

Srinagar: In a surprising political move, Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Tariq Hamid Karra announced on Sunday that the Congress will not field candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections for four seats in the Union Territory scheduled on October 24.

Speaking to the media after an extensive meeting of party leaders, Karra said the decision was taken unanimously. The step comes after the National Conference (NC) reportedly refused to allot a “safe seat” to the Congress under the alliance arrangement.

Karra explained, “The Congress central leadership had requested one of the two Rajya Sabha seats going to polls separately, but the National Conference offered us only one of the two seats under a common notification. Seat four is not as safe as seat one or two. Keeping this in mind, it was unanimously decided that we will not put up a candidate for seat number four. We will leave it to our alliance partners to decide on it.”

He clarified that the decision was strategic and alliance-driven, emphasizing, “Since the safe seat was not offered to us, we don’t want to contest on seat four.”

Apart from the Rajya Sabha polls, Karra said the meeting also discussed the functioning of the alliance, along with the upcoming by-elections for two Assembly seats—Budgam and Nagrota. “Some legislators had grievances regarding governance and administrative issues, but today’s discussion focused on the Rajya Sabha elections,” he added.

Regarding the bypolls, Karra noted, “Leaders raised some points. We will maintain open channels with the NC and convey the inputs to our central leadership for further guidance.”