Srinagar: The National Conference and the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday rejected allegations that the Rajya Sabha polls were a “fixed match”, with NC president Farooq Abdullah saying his party had rejected an offer from the BJP and had preferred a contest.
Abdullah also denied the charge by People’s Conference chief and MLA from Handwara, Sajad Gani Lone, that the NC had “gifted” seven votes to the BJP.
On Friday, the ruling NC won three seats, while the BJP managed one in the first Rajya Sabha elections held in Jammu and Kashmir after it became a Union territory in 2019.
J&K BJP president Sat Sharma defeated NC candidate Imran Nabi Dar by securing 32 votes.
“Had we gifted it, then how did our fourth candidate secure 21 votes? We did not give any gift. They (BJP) had come to us (saying) — let there not be an election and we (NC) take three and give them (BJP) one. We said no, we will contest and it will be decided on the ground,” Abdullah said while replying to queries from reporters.
He expressed gratitude to the Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for supporting NC candidates in the Rajya Sabha polls, and also asserted all his party MLAs were united and the BJP could not break even one of them.
“All MLAs of our party remained united; they could not break even one. There were some media reports that we are not united, but we remained united. We are thankful to Mehbooba (Mufti) ji’s party (PDP), Congress party and those independents, including Langate and Shopian MLAs, and others who supported us,” he said.
When asked whether the PDP had supported the NC, Abdullah said, “Yes, PDP supported us”.
“I am thankful to them, I thank Mehbooba ji,” he said.
He said while it was a matter of happiness that NC’s three candidates won the election, it is “regretful” that the fourth candidate could not win because some MLAs “backtracked” from their promise of support.
“He got 21 votes but could not win because some people did not keep the promise they had made,” he added.
Asked whether it was a miscalculation by the party or a “betrayal” by some MLAs, Abdullah said, “Such things happen in an election”.
“God knows whether it was a betrayal or what. But, I am thankful to God that we won three seats,” he said.
He downplayed allegations of a “fixed match” between the NC and the BJP.
“Allegations were made even against our Prophet (PBUH), and we are nothing in comparison …. Allegations will continue to be levelled and we have to fight them,” the former chief minister of the erstwhile state of J&K said.
Leader of Opposition in J&K Assembly Sunil Sharma said they are thankful to the seven legislators who “rejected” NC and supported the BJP candidate.
“We do not know them, but one thing is clear that they have rejected the NC government and served them a warning. We welcome these seven legislators because the BJP bagged the seat because of them. There may be more like them who are not happy with the government,” he said.
He claimed the BJP made “no contact” with any legislators but requested them to vote for the party to reject the current government’s “anti-people” policies.
The LoP also rejected Lone’s allegation that the Rajya Sabha election was a “fixed match” between NC and BJP.
At a press conference earlier, Lone blamed the NC for the BJP’s victory.
“You (NC) have clearly gifted seven members to the BJP. It was a fixed match,” he alleged.
“Today, we have caught them (NC) red-handed in their (BJP’s) lap…
“I am saying this with authority that all the cross-voting was done by the NC,” Lone said, claiming the Rajya Sabha results were not due to “horse-trading”, but an “understanding”.
“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),” Lone claimed.
Meanwhile, Abdullah described as “propaganda” the accusations that the party had not made adequate preparations for winning the fourth seat.
“Had we not made any preparations, how did we get 21 votes? This is a misunderstanding; this is propaganda. There is no truth in this,” he said.
About J&K Congress chief Tariq Hamid Karra’s reported statement that the Congress party was happy that it did not contest the fourth seat and left it to NC, Abdullah said that Karra “has the right to say anything”.
“We had offered them Nagrota (assembly) seat (where bypoll is taking place), but they did not even take that. What is the reason? You ask them. I talked to the Congress high command myself. They (first) told me at midnight that they would contest,” he said.
He expressed the hope of the NC candidate emerging victorious from the seat.
On a question about assembly elections in Bihar, the NC president said, “The BJP should lose there”.
Asked about NC’s poll promise of providing 200 units of electricity free and the “resentment” among a section of people over the installation of smart metres, Abdullah said J&K was not getting electricity free of cost.
“Wherefrom are we going to pay for that? I have always said power is not free. Even when I was CM in 1984, I used to say that it is not free. We are paying thousands of crores of rupees, which could have been spent on the welfare of the people. Do you think about that? Do you think about how you indulge in power theft?
“If you have to save this state and its identity, then we should adopt austerity, bear it. It (money) will not come from the sky. If we have to save our freedom, then we have to face these difficulties. Nothing is free,” he said.
