Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference chairman Sajad Gani Lone on Monday leveled serious allegations against the ruling National Conference (NC), claiming that the party was engaged in a “secret deal” with the BJP over the allocation of the fourth Rajya Sabha seat.
Addressing a press conference in Srinagar, as per news agency KNO, Lone pointed to recent remarks by NC patriarch Dr. Farooq Abdullah as evidence of ongoing negotiations between NC and the BJP. “If there wasn’t a deal, then why did Farooq Sahib himself admit that there were parleys between his party and BJP regarding Rajya Sabha seats?” Lone questioned.
He further asked, “Why were 31 votes cast for candidate number three? Simple and straightforward: so that it would be possible for the BJP to win, and to make horse-trading easier for them. If NC was so confident of winning all four seats, why didn’t they offer any of the three seats to Congress? Was there a deal—something like, give two, take two or four?”
Referring to Dr. Farooq Abdullah’s statement that BJP had offered NC “ek seat do, teen lo” (give one seat, take three), Lone stressed that this indicated an ongoing dialogue. “Did he inform his allies about this dialogue with BJP? If he knows who the four people are, as he claims, he should name them—‘chahe woh unki apni party ke hi kyun na hon’ (even if they are from his own party). But he is not naming anyone.”
Speaking about the abstentions, Lone said, “They are blaming us for abstaining, saying that by not voting we supported them. ‘Allah maaf kare’, if we had voted, imagine the accusations! For us, there is no difference between National Conference and the BJP. What one does, the other follows. We have taken a clear stand.”
Lone also raised questions on the voting process, “How does a vote get rejected? Put a mark here or there—what’s the problem? Saying our agent did or didn’t do it isn’t possible. When there is match-fixing, what can you say? I don’t know much Urdu, but there’s a verse: ‘Idhar udhar ki baat na kar, yeh bata qafila kyun loota; mujhe rahznon se gila nahi, teri rahbari ka sawaal hai’ (Don’t talk about trivial things, tell me why the caravan was looted; I don’t care about the robbers, the real question is about your leadership).”
On the electoral performance, Lone said, “Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference got nearly two lakh votes (during last year’s assembly polls), all against the National Conference. Our fight is against them. Why would people vote for those who brought BSF, who killed thousands, who jailed so many? If NC looks into their ‘zameer’ (conscience), they will see stains of Kashmiri blood. For me and my supporters, there is no difference between the National Conference and the BJP.”
Touching on the issue of daily wagers, Lone added, “Everyone has deceived them [daily wagers]. Even when I was in government, there were only committees upon committees. The basic issue lies with the state government. All these promises come with financial implications. The government has the financial overload that is why it is delaying their regularisation.”(KNO)
