Describing the election for the four Rajya Sabha seats from Jammu and Kashmir as a “fixed match”, Peoples’ Conference chief Sajad Gani Lone on Saturday accused the ruling National Conference of cross voting and “gifting” seven votes to the BJP to ensure the saffron party’s victory on one seat.
The NC won three seats, while the BJP managed one in the first Rajya Sabha elections held yesterday in J&K after it became a Union territory in 2019.
“You (NC) have clearly gifted seven members to the BJP. It was a fixed match”, Lone claimed at a press conference in Srinagar.
On the issue of cross-voting, Lone added, “NC members effectively gifted votes to BJP. Rejected votes were deliberate, not accidental. This was a calculated, coordinated manoeuvre with Delhi, leaving no space for a fair contest,” he said.
Yesterday, it was proven beyond doubt that there was a fixed arrangement between BJP and NC, Lone alleged.
He observed that the candidate at number three needed 28.1 votes to secure victory.
“Anyone with basic mathematical understanding knows that 29 votes would have sufficed. Yet 31 votes were cast by NC members, with an additional rejected vote from an NC member ensuring favouring the candidate. This surplus ensured that the candidate at number four had no chance to win, even if the cross-voting had not occurred,” he claimed.
Lone said, “I am grateful I abstained from voting. Had I participated, all fingers would have been pointed at me. The truth is unambiguous: NC orchestrated the outcome of RS elections in J&K themselves to aid BJP.”
“Seats were never genuinely offered to Congress. Officially, seat number four was presented to them but NC ensured it was a setup for their defeat. Congress could have mustered only around 21 votes. We had already indicated that if Congress had contested seat number three, we would have supported them—not due to any leaning, but because they are a national party and could have advocated issues of Kashmiri people better”.
Drawing a parallel, Lone recalled, “This is precisely how Article 370 was abrogated, through backroom visits and hidden deals in Delhi. History repeats itself when such manipulations go unchecked. People must awaken and recognize where their votes truly go. It cannot be allowed that BJP secures win for their preferred party while publicly abusing them as part of a gimmick.”
He asked the people to remain vigilant, informed and never allow manipulation to decide the future of Jammu and Kashmir.
Meanwhile, it is worth mentioning that the UT’s BJP chief Sat Sharma won the fourth seat by polling four votes more than the strength of 28 MLAs of the saffron party.
Chief Minister and NC vice-president Omar Abdullah on Friday denied any cross voting by NC MLAs and said that the party votes had remained intact. He questioned where the four extra votes for the BJP president Sat Sharma came from.