For the first time in history, Jammu and Kashmir will have no voice in the election of India’s 15th Vice President, as all four of its Rajya Sabha seats continue to lie vacant — a status unchanged for the past four years.
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned on July 21 citing health reasons, creating a vacancy during the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament. Just two days later, the Election Commission of India initiated the process for electing his successor.
The Vice President is elected by an electoral college comprising 788 members of both Houses of Parliament — 543 from the Lok Sabha and 245 from the Rajya Sabha — as per Articles 63 to 71 of the Constitution and the Vice-President (Election) Rules, 1974. However, due to existing vacancies, only 782 members will participate in this election. With one Lok Sabha and five Rajya Sabha seats vacant, the winning candidate will require 392 votes.
Of the five vacant Rajya Sabha seats, four belong to Jammu and Kashmir and one to Punjab, vacated after Sanjiv Arora moved to the legislative assembly.
Despite having held its first assembly elections in more than six years in 2023, Jammu and Kashmir’s four Rajya Sabha seats remain unfilled. The 90-member J&K Legislative Assembly is responsible for electing these members, yet the Election Commission has not initiated the process to fill the vacancies. While by-elections were announced for Gujarat, Kerala, Punjab, and West Bengal in May, no dates have been set for the J&K Rajya Sabha seats or for the assembly constituencies of Budgam and Nagrota.
Currently, J&K has five Lok Sabha MPs — three from Kashmir and two from Jammu — but its voice is missing in the 245-member Rajya Sabha, where its representation has been absent since the terms of the previous four MPs — two each from the BJP and the PDP — expired in 2021.
Political Reactions
National Conference spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq called the situation “unfortunate” and said the region continues to be denied its rightful place in the country’s highest legislative bodies. “We have been consistently demanding that these seats be filled. The silence is unjustified,” he said.
With 42 seats in the Legislative Assembly and support from allies like the Congress and CPI(M), the National Conference is expected to win three of the four Rajya Sabha seats, while the BJP, with 29 MLAs, could secure one.
One of the BJP leaders, however, said the onus lies with the Election Commission. “Political parties are trying to politicize the issue during the VP election. Our party stands for democracy and supports filling the vacant seats,” he said.
PDP leader Fayaz Mir, one of the last MPs from J&K in Rajya Sabha, said the region’s absence in Parliament is a serious concern. “Representation is crucial for protecting our interests. There’s no security concern or major obstacle — yet nothing is being done,” he added.”(KINS)
