Congress’s ties with its ally NC have strained after the ruling party refused to leave a “safe” Rajya Sabha seat for the party, despite making a commitment with the party's central leadership, and instead offered an unsafe seat (seat No. 4) to the grand old party.

After the snub, an angry Congress opted out of the RS polls and, as a ‘mark of protest,’ also refused to contest the Nagrota Assembly by-polls on November 11.

The NC had left the Nagrota seat for Congress, but the grand party decided against contesting from the seat.

In the current 88-member J&K Assembly, the NC has 41 MLAs, six independent MLAs are supporting it, while the Congress has six members, the PDP 3, the Peoples Conference 1, the AIP 1, the AAP 1, and one independent, while the BJP has 28 MLAs.

The Peoples Conference chairman and MLA Sajjad Gani Lone has decided to abstain from the RS polls, while the PDP has linked its support to the NC to the passage of two of its private member bills in the J&K Assembly. The AIP MLA and the lone AAP MLA, who is in jail under PSA, are yet to decide whether to support the NC or abstain.

With numbers delicately poised, the NC needs the support of the six MLAs of the Congress, the three of the PDP, the AIP, the AAP, and the independent legislator to win the fourth seat. If the NC candidate gets less than 28 votes, the fourth RS seat will go to the BJP."