Srinagar, July 10 -- The Union Territory has had no member in the Upper House of Parliament under its own quota since February 15, 2021, when the terms of former MPs Ghulam Nabi Azad and Nazir Ahmad Laway came to an end.

Just days earlier, on February 10, 2021, the six-year terms of Mir Muhammad Fayaz and Shamsher Singh Manhas had also concluded. Since then, all four Rajya Sabha seats allocated to Jammu & Kashmir have remained unfilled.

The Election Commission of India has not yet announced the schedule for elections to these vacant seats, despite the electoral college-comprising elected MLAs of the J&K Legislative Assembly-being in place since October 8, 2014, when results of the last Assembly polls were declared.

Sources indicate tha...