Azad re-elected to Rajya Sabha from Kashmir

Jammu: Congress' Ghulam Nabi Azad, the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha, was Saturday re-elected to the upper house from Jammu and Kashmir along with two candidates from the PDP and one from the BJP.

As per the results announced by the Election Commission, Azad polled 30 votes. Though his party has only 12 members in the 87-member state assembly which forms the electoral college for the Rajya Sabha elections, he was supported by the National Conference that has 15 members.

Besides the NC, three others including Yusuf Tarigami of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, Hakeem Muhammad Yaseen of People's Democratic Front and Independent member Engineer Rashid also supported Azad.

The victorious Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Shamsher Singh Manhas polled 57 votes, a poll panel official told IANS.

"Fayaz Ahmad Mir of the PDP polled 56 votes and has been declared elected. Nazir Ahmad Laway of the PDP also got elected polling 29 votes," the official added.

The Peoples Democratic Party has 28 members and one independent from the Ladakh region has also joined it.

The BJP has 25 members and has the support of three others - two belonging to the People's Conference and an Independent from Udhampur.