Srinagar: The stage seems set for the much-delayed Rajya Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir with the Union law ministry rejecting a plea by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to stagger the terms of four seats of the Union territory in the Upper House.The law ministry has informed the national poll body that no legal provision existed to pass such an order which would require an amendment in the Constitution of India, a report in Indian Express said.According to the report, the poll body had exclusively sought a presidential order for Jammu and Kashmir even as the terms of Rajya Sabha members from Punjab and Delhi also run concurrently.“While a similar situation exists in Punjab and Delhi – due to a state of Emergency being declared in the past, and creation of a new Assembly under the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991 – sources said that the EC had sought the presidential order only for J&K”, the report said.Normally, one-third of Rajya Sabha members retire every two years, ensuring continuity in the representation for a state or Union Territory in the Upper House of the parliament.Insurgency disrupted continuity in representation for J&K in Rajya SabhaHowever, in the case of Jammu and Kashmir, all the four Rajya Sabha seats became vacant simultaneously due to the prolonged presidential rule between 1990 and 1996. The long political vacuum for six years in the aftermath of the eruption of armed insurgency disrupted continuity in representation for J&K in Rajya Sabha.Between April 1994 to November 1996, J&K had no representation in the Rajya Sabha, which created a situation wherein all four seats were filled at the same time in 1996.Ghulam Rasool Mattoo was the last Rajya Sabha member to retire in 1994, and these vacancies couldn’t be filled until 1996 due to absence of an electoral college comprising the elected MLAs.In 1996, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Karan Singh, Saifuddin Soz and Sharifuddin Shariq were elected as Rajya Sabha members from Jammu and Kashmir.Since then, Rajya Sabha vacancies have arisen at the same time, with all seats being filled simultaneously in 2002, 2009 and 2015.All the four Rajya Sabha seats have been vacant since 2021, when Mir Mohammad Fayaz, Nazir Ahmad Laway, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Shamsher Singh completed their terms.It was not immediately known what were the compelling circumstances that motivated the ECI to seek a presidential order for staggering terms of four J&K Rajya Sabha seats.According to the report, only two presidential orders have been issued in the history of independent India in 1952 and 1956 to curtail the terms of Rajya Sabha MPs so that one-third of them retire every two years.“Upon the first constitution of the Council of States, the President shall, after consultation with the Election Commission, make by order such (a) provision as he thinks fit for curtailing the term of office of some of the members then chosen, in order that, as nearly as may be, one-third of the members holding seats of each class shall retire in every second year there-after,” per Section 154 of the Representation of the People Act.The law ministry told the EC that an order for J&K would “require an amendment to the law, and that it would have to apply to all states where terms of RS MPs have become concurrent over the years”, the report said.Advantage to NC-Congress combineThe current system of notifications in J&K is advantageous to the ruling National Conference (NC) and it will ensure its win on a minimum three seats. As of now, the NC-Congress combine can easily win three seats and the BJP can win the fourth seat.The alliance led by chief minister Omar Abdullah can also win the fourth seat if the opposition parties have less than 30 members.The electoral college for the seats has been in place since October 8, 2024 when the assembly election results were declared.The ECI’s delay in holding the Rajya Sabha election in Jammu and Kashmir has come under the security of the political parties from time to time.The last Rajya Sabha election in J&K was held in 2015 immediately after the assembly election was declared, even though the elected legislators had not taken the oath.In its notification issued on January 12, 2025, the poll body has said that the legislators can vote in the Rajya Sabha polls even before they have taken the oath.