A political storm has erupted in Jammu and Kashmir following the recent Rajya Sabha elections for four seats. Sajad Lone, the chief of the People’s Conference (PC), has accused the ruling National Conference (NC) of betraying its anti-BJP stance by allegedly “gifting” seven votes to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Lone characterized the election outcome as a “fixed match”.
These accusations come after the Rajya Sabha elections, the first to be held in Jammu and Kashmir since it became a Union Territory in 2019. The National Conference secured wins on three seats, while the BJP managed to win one.
At a press conference in Srinagar, Lone directly stated, “You (NC) have clearly gifted seven members to the BJP. It was a fixed match.”
Vote Pattern Raises Questions
The elections, conducted across three separate notifications, saw two seats contested under the third notification. While the NC’s Chowdhry Mohammed Ramzan and Sajjad Kitchloo secured comfortable wins in the first two seats, the polling for the third notification, involving NC’s GS Oberoi (also known as Shammi Oberoi) and Imran Nabi Dar against BJP’s Sat Sharma, drew scrutiny.
Oberoi received 31 votes, Dar garnered 21, and the BJP candidate secured 32 votes. Three votes were declared invalid.
Notably, the BJP, with 28 MLAs, appeared to have gained an additional four votes, which Lone alleges came from the NC, rather than from Independent legislators as might be assumed.
‘NC Sitting in BJP’s Lap’
Lone further accused the NC of abandoning its stated opposition to the BJP. “They (NC) used to say everyone else is with the BJP and only they are against it. Today, we have caught them red-handed in their (BJP’s) lap,” he asserted.
He alleged widespread cross-voting by NC MLAs, stating with authority, “I am saying this with authority that all the cross-voting was done by the NC. Who are those whose votes were rejected? They are not kindergarten kids; everyone understands the process.”
Lone went on to suggest that the election results were not the outcome of random “horse-trading” but rather a result of a deliberate “understanding” between the NC and the BJP.
“The NC had a pact with Delhi. The BJP’s real tally is 70, including 42 from the NC, and not just 32 (28 party MLAs plus four who supported it in the polls),” he claimed.
Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had dismissed speculations of cross-voting within his party. He stated, “All of @JKNC_votes remained intact across the four elections, as witnessed by our election agent who saw each polling slip. There was no cross voting from any of our MLAs so the questions arise – where did the 4 extra votes of the BJP come from?”
Abdullah added, “Who were the MLAs who deliberately invalidated their votes by marking a wrong preference number while voting? Do they have the guts to put their hands up and own up to helping the BJP after promising us their votes? What pressure or inducement helped them make this choice? Let’s see if any of the BJP’s secret team own up to selling their souls!”