Amid the Opposition’s protests against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyander Kumar over alleged “vote chori”, Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, Sunil Sharma, on Monday countered the anti-CEC protests by saying that the NC and Congress were involved in one of the biggest instances of “vote chori” in the country by rigging the 1987 Assembly polls in J&K.
“If 'vote chori' allegations are to be made, then the biggest vote chori in the country was done by rigging the 1987 Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir to make Farooq Abdullah Chief Minister by robbing votes,” Sharma told reporters.
He was responding to a question on Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s allegations that delimitation in Jammu and Kashmir amounted to “vote chori” as six Assembly seats were allotted to the BJP.
In the delimitation of Assembly constituencies carried out in J&K ahead of the 2024 Assembly polls, the number of Assembly seats in the Jammu region was increased by six, while Kashmir, despite having more votes, got just one additional seat. From 37 seats, Jammu’s tally went up to 43, and Kashmir’s rose from 46 to 47.
Sharma alleged that there was a Khalq DC who used to distribute certificates to MLAs to make Farooq Abdullah win. “The MLAs used to be called Khalq MLAs because they did not win after being elected but by certificates of DC Khalq.”
“The biggest allegation of vote chori in the country is the 1987 rigging in J&K, and this vote chori and robbery were done by the Abdullah family,” he alleged.
The BJP leader credited former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ensuring fair elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
Taking a dig at Congress, Sharma said, “Congress has always robbed votes here, and 1987 is an example in the country and all over the world, when Farooq Abdullah was made the CM by robbing votes here.”
“The Abdullahs forget that the allegations of the biggest robbery are against their family. They should first give an answer to it,” he said.
Targeting CM Omar Abdullah for joining the anti-CEC protest in New Delhi, the LoP said Omar had described the 2024 Assembly polls in J&K as exceptionally fair, with no allegations of electoral fraud at any polling station.
“This has come from the mouth of Omar Abdullah. A year ago, he told the Congress that it was wrong to question the EVMs and said the EVMs were good. Now, how have they become bad? If they were bad, then your election was also wrong, and you should resign on moral grounds,” Sharma said.
Earlier in the day, Congress and BJP workers had a face-off as Congress workers protested against CEC Gyander Kumar and demanded his removal at the party headquarters in Srinagar, while BJP Mahila Morcha activists responded with a counter-protest outside the Congress office.
Later, BJP workers burnt an effigy of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
