Srinagar, Oct 24, KDC: The voting for four Rajya Sabha seats from Jammu and Kashmir concluded on Friday, with 85 MLAs exercising their franchise, including Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Deputy Chief Minister, and several Cabinet Ministers.
According to officials, the polling began at morning at the Legislative Assembly complex and continued smoothly till 4:00 PM. The voting took place at three polling booths set up inside the premises under tight security arrangements. Counting of votes is scheduled to begin at 5:00 PM.
Highly placed sources told Kashmir Dot Com that 85 MLAs cast their votes during the polling. The voters comprised legislators from major political parties, including the National Conference (JKNC), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), PDP, Congress, and several Independents and smaller party representatives.
Notably, Assembly Speaker did not vote, as per parliamentary procedure, since the Speaker only casts a vote in case of a tie. Meanwhile, Peoples Conference Chief and MLA from Handwara, Sajad Gani Lone, abstained from voting.
Sources further revealed that incarcerated Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Doda, Mehraj Malik, also abstained from casting his vote.
With the voting process now complete, the JKNC is likely to secure three out of the four seats, while the BJP is expected to win one seat, according to the arithmetic of the House and insider assessments. “Unless there is any instance of cross-voting, the outcome seems fairly predictable,” said a senior official privy to the developments.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was the first to cast his vote, symbolizing the start of polling. Party agents from both the JKNC and BJP monitored the process closely throughout the day. (KDC)
