NC has alleged deception in the Rajya Sabha polls as allegations have lined up against the Peoples Democratic Party.
The ruling National Conference (NC) on Tuesday accused its rival, the opposition PDP, of cross-voting during the Rajya Sabha elections held in October last year, in which J&K BJP president Sat Sharma unexpectedly won despite the party lacking the required numbers.
“Cross-voters in the J&K Rajya Sabha have been exposed. Now the question is what prompted PDP MLAs to vote for BJP candidate Sat Sharma, despite having publicly promised to support the NC,” NC spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar posted on X.
In the 2014 J&K Legislative Assembly election, PDP formed the government in an alliance with the BJP, and NC has alleged continuation of the same.
NC’s resentment against PDP roots back to their earlier alliance with the BJP, which ultimately led to the abrogation of Article 370 and stripped J&K of its special status.
Imran was the NC candidate for the fourth Rajya Sabha seat in J&K. Despite the NC having the numbers, following assurances of support from the PDP and independents, he lost to BJP’s Sat Sharma.
Imran alleged that possible reasons for cross-voting by PDP MLAs include monetary inducements and access to power corridors, promises of perks and a more comfortable position, traditional alignment with the BJP, and a willingness to betray the interests of people in Jammu and Kashmir.
The NC’s allegations against the PDP followed an RTI reply which revealed that the PDP, which had three MLAs at the time of the Rajya Sabha elections, did not appoint authorised agents for the polls.
According to the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the J&K Assembly Secretariat, seven authorised agents were appointed by three political parties, four by the National Conference, two by the BJP, and one by the Congress, to verify votes cast by their respective members in the J&K Assembly.
The RTI reply stated that, apart from the NC, BJP and Congress, no applications for appointing counting or authorised agents were received during the Rajya Sabha elections.
As per Rule 39AA of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, when a legislator belonging to a political party casts their vote in a Rajya Sabha election, the presiding officer must allow the party’s authorised agent to verify the vote before the ballot paper is placed in the ballot box.
The RTI response has raised questions about why the PDP, which did not field its own candidate but extended support to NC candidates, did not appoint authorised agents.
