Congress was willing to contest ‘risky’ Rajya Sabha seat if 5 NC MLAs voted for its candidate instead of alliance-supporting independents
Srinagar, Oct 13 (KNO): Last-ditch efforts to bring alliance partners-the National Conference (NC) and Congress-together for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls have failed due to disagreements over voting preference of independent MLAs, who are not required to disclose their votes to authorized polling agents during the election.
Sources told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that discussions between the two parties continued till late night, following Congress’s public refusal on Sunday evening to contest the riskier seat offered by the NC.
According to sources familiar with the negotiations, Congress had expressed willingness to contest the fourth seat on the condition that five NC MLAs would vote for its candidate, instead of relying on five independents currently supporting the ruling alliance.
“We made it clear to the NC command that we cannot afford to depend on independents to vote for our candidate. We requested that they spare five of their MLAs for us and, in return, ask the independents to vote for the NC candidate contesting under the third notification, which involves a combined election,” a senior Congress leader told KNO.
However, the proposal was reportedly not accepted by the NC leadership.
“They [the independents] are not bound to show their marked ballots to anyone. If they do, their votes are liable to be cancelled. In contrast, NC MLAs, being part of a political party, are required to show their marked ballots to authorized polling agents,” the Congress leader added.
Of the 53 MLAs supporting the ruling alliance, five are independents: Satish Sharma (Minister, Chamb segment), Pyare Lal (Inderwal), Dr. Rameshwar Singh (Bani), Muzaffar Khan (Rajouri), and Choudhary Akram (Surankote).
As per election rules, independent MLAs are not required to display their marked ballots, unlike party-affiliated MLAs who must show their votes to authorized agents.
The conditions of voting for independents raised concerns within Congress about the possibility of cross-voting. “How can we rely on independents when we are not in power and are merely offering outside support?” a Congress leader questioned.
They also disclosed that NC leadership had told Congress leadership that they should also seek support of the Peoples Democratic Party, which has three MLAs in the House—(KNO)
