In fact three of the independent MLAs have also pledged their support to the NC, said, NC President Farooq Abdullah.

Senior party leaders say that this has sealed the decision in favour of NC which will win both the seats.

However what has come as a surprise was the decision of the BJP asking its MLAs not to go for the second preference of voting. BJP earlier proposed the name of senior advocate, Ashok Vijay Gupta, who filed his nomination as an independent nominee on one of the seats of the Rajya Sabha.

However BJP’s legislative party leader, Prof Chaman Lal Gupta, said, “we have issued the whip to our MLAs not to go for the second preference vote in the interest of the people of Jammu. We put up a candidate who represents the aspirations of people of Jammu. We are committed to the cause of Jammu.''

However Panthers party has kept its decision of support pending. Panthers party said that its Chairman, Prof Bhim Singh, has convened a meeting of three of its legislators at Jammu at the party office and it was only later that the party will decide on its support. The meeting is being held two hours after the voting begins and for this, Bhim Singh is arriving in the winter capital from New Delhi on Friday.

To ensure that NC gets both the seats, All India General Secretary of Congress party and its Jammu and Kashmir In charge, Prithvi Raj Chavan, also organised a dinner for the Congress and NC MLAs on Thursday at Jammu where the Congress assured that, ` all its MLAs will vote for the NC nominees.

The crossing voting is already ruled out for the two seats of Rajya Sabha as the voting is open. NC President said that all the three MLAs against whom Congress didn’t put up any candidate were present in the dinner.

Two of the seats of Rajya Sabha of Former Chief Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, and Union Water Resource Minister, Saifudin Soz, were returned uncontested as none of the political parties put up any candidate on them.