Srinagar, April 29: Sajad Gani Lone, president of the People’s Conference, has leveled serious accusations against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the National Conference (NC), and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), alleging a pre-meditated collusion to manipulate the outcome of the Rajya Sabha elections held in Jammu and Kashmir last year. Lone contends that these parties engaged in ‘match-fixing’ to secure the four seats, with the ruling National Conference winning three and the BJP managing to obtain one seat despite lacking sufficient legislative numbers.
Information was available with The Chenab Times indicating that during the elections for the four Rajya Sabha seats, at least four non-BJP MLAs cast their votes in favour of BJP candidate Sat Sharma. Sharma secured 32 votes, exceeding the BJP’s strength of 28 MLAs. Lone himself abstained from voting, a decision that reportedly benefited the BJP candidate.
Lone further elaborated on his allegations, citing a Right to Information (RTI) reply that suggested the PDP had not appointed a chief agent for the Rajya Sabha polls. He stated that the National Conference’s lack of insistence on the appointment of agents and the PDP’s omission in appointing them point towards a significant level of pre-arranged manipulation.
Speaking as the MLA from Handwara, Lone asserted that the findings from the RTI reply demonstrated a clear collusion between the BJP, NC, and PDP during the Rajya Sabha elections. He emphasized that the BJP’s victory in securing a Rajya Sabha seat would have been impossible without the active support of both the National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party.
Recalling past electoral practices, Lone drew a parallel with the 2015 Rajya Sabha polls. He recounted that his party, the People’s Conference, did not field a candidate at that time. However, he stated that the then-ruling alliance had approached his party to appoint an agent of their preference. Lone mentioned that the individual appointed as an agent was not a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) and subsequently verified his vote and that of fellow MLA Bashir Ahmed Dar.
Lone questioned the conduct and stated ignorance of election rules claimed by both the National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party. He expressed strong doubts about their purported lack of knowledge regarding electoral procedures, suggesting that it was highly improbable for either the PDP or the NC to be unaware of the established rules governing such elections.
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The Chenab Times News Desk
