Srinagar- The first Rajya Sabha polls since Jammu and Kashmir’s downgrading to a Union territory status are scheduled for Friday with political observers anticipating three seats for the ruling National Conference (NC) and one for the BJP, provided their strategies remain on course.

The elections for the four Rajya Sabha seats in J-K have been divided into three notifications.

Chowdhury Mohammed Ramzan of the NC is in a direct contest with Ali Mohammed Mir of the BJP in one of the seats.

For the second seat, NC’s Sajjad Kitchloo will fight against Rakesh Mahajan of the BJP. The third notification will see a contest for two seats in which the NC has fielded party treasurer G S Oberoi, also known as Shammi Oberoi, and Imran Nabi Dar against BJP’s Sat Sharma.

The NC on Thursday issued a

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