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Last Updated:<\/span>October 16, 2025, 18:34 IST<\/time><\/p>\nThe PDP has said it will only offer support to the NC in the Rajya Sabha elections if the party backs its bills for land rights and regularisation of daily wagers in the assembly<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti (L) said former J&K CM Farooq Abdullah (R) had approached her, seeking support for the government in the Rajya Sabha polls. (Image: PTI\/File)<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
Amid reports of a collapse in the alliance between the Congress and NC in Jammu and Kashmir, the Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP has offered support to the ruling party ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls \u2013 but on one condition.<\/span><\/p>\nThe People\u2019s Democratic Party (PDP) has said it will only offer support to the National Conference (NC) in the Rajya Sabha elections if the party backs its bills for land rights and regularisation of daily wagers in the assembly.<\/span><\/p>\nThe Jammu and Kashmir assembly session is scheduled to start on October 23 and the biennial elections to fill the four Rajya Sabha seats of the union territory, lying vacant since 2021, will be held on October 24.<\/span><\/p>\nMehbooba Mufti has told NC president Farooq Abdullah that the PDP will support his party in the Rajya Sabha elections if it backs her party\u2019s Land Bill and the Regularisation of Daily Wagers Bill in the Assembly. As polls near and candidates seek support from MLAs, the PDP has set conditions before the NC to support one of its candidates.<\/span><\/p>\nBut, what happens if the deal does not go through?<\/span><\/p>\nIf the PDP withholds its support from the NC, it will tilt the balance more in favour of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls. Linking the PDP\u2019s Rajya Sabha support to private member bills is politically symbolic, they said. Since 1980, only three private member bills have ever been passed in the J&K assembly, they added.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThey said Mehbooba\u2019s proposal to condition PDP\u2019s Rajya Sabha support on the NC backing her land rights and daily wagers bills seems well crafted. Economically, regularisation will annually cost between Rs 5,000 to 6,000 crore, which neither the current government nor the Mehbooba Mufti administration could afford during 2015-2018; hence, this does not seem a genuine legislative negotiation, they added.<\/span><\/p>\nIn a reference to her party\u2019s decision to support the government, she said former CM Farooq Abdullah had approached her, seeking support for the government.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cFarooq Abdullah called me up and said the government needed support. I said that there are some bills that we demand be passed in the Assembly,” Mehbooba said.<\/span><\/p>\nHer daughter and PDP leader Iltija Mufti said she does not see why the NC should not be willing to support the PDP on the land rights and daily wagers\u2019 bills. She said she hopes to see the government rise above \u201cpartisan politics”.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cDon\u2019t see why NC shouldn\u2019t be willing to support PDP bills whether it\u2019s the land rights or the one to regularise daily wagers. Both were unfortunately kept in\u00a0 limbo during the Budget session earlier this year. These bills seek to protect the rights of people across J&K reeling from insecurity & uncertainty over property rights & unemployment. Hope the local government rises above partisan politics at least this time,” Iltija said on X.<\/span><\/p>\n\n