SRINAGAR: In a dramatic turn of events, Jammu and Kashmir’s first Rajya Sabha elections since the abrogation of Article 370 have stirred controversy, with allegations of a “fixed match” between the ruling National Conference (NC) and the opposition BJP.
Despite having the numbers to claim all four seats, the NC managed to win only three, while the fourth went to BJP’s J&K president Sat Sharma, who received 32 votes—four more than the party’s strength of 28 in the 88-member Assembly.
In the October 24 Rajya Sabha polls for four vacant seats, the NC, backed by 59 members, seemed set for a clean sweep against the BJP’s 28. However, in a surprise outcome, BJP’s Sat Sharma secured 32 votes, defeating NC’s Imran Nabi Dar, who received only 21. Three votes were declared invalid.
The NC’s candidate for the third seat, Surinder Oberoi, received 31 votes—two more than the required 29—effectively reducing Dar’s tally and paving the way for Sharma’s win even without cross voting.
The election results have fuelled widespread speculation of a “match fixing” between NC and BJP.
NC president Farooq Abdullah has admitted that BJP had approached his party with a “3-1 seat-sharing proposal,” which was the end result.
Peoples Conference chairman and MLA Sajad Gani Lone, who abstained from voting, has claimed the RS polls was a “fixed match.”
“It has been proved beyond doubt that there was a pre-arranged understanding between BJP and NC—‘you take one, we take the other.’ Candidate number three required 28.1 votes to win, yet 31 votes were polled for him, with one additional rejected vote from an NC member. This surplus ensured that the fourth NC candidate stood no chance, even without cross-voting,” Lone alleged.
According to Lone, NC members effectively gifted votes to BJP and it was a “calculated, coordinated maneuver with Delhi’s knowledge”.
Political commentators suggest that the BJP’s decision to field its J&K president Sat Sharma from seat No 4 was made with confidence in a behind-the-scenes arrangement.
“If Sat Sharma had lost, it would have been a setback and a big embarrassment for BJP. Clearly, the ground was prepared to guarantee his victory,” said a political observer.
A senior BJP leader said the nomination of Sat Sharma was made because the party was sure that he would win the seat.
“We had made the groundwork. The president of a party does not contest the risky seat. As per our calculation, we knew Sat Sharma will win the seat and the final result will be 3-1,” he said.
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Monga said the government should come clean and reveal the names of MLAs who cross-voted or deliberately invalidated their ballots.
“Public wants to know who cross voted and who made his votes invalid,” he said, adding MLAs are briefed before voting about the process and cannot claim ignorance of the process.
According to Monga, it is in interest of the government to make the facts public.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has claimed that the government is aware of the names of those who cross-voted. “Almost everyone knows the names of those who betrayed them”.
NC MP Aga Ruhullah has also pressed for revealing names of MLAs who cross voted, arguing that the issue involves “public trust” and cannot remain a private matter.
As political tempers rise, everybody wants to know about the seven MLAs who cross voted and invalidated their votes.
Whether the names of MLAs who facilitated BJP’s surprise victory will ever be made public continues to be a question hovering over J&K’s political landscape.
