J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that while his party had aimed for a clean sweep in the Rajya Sabha elections but was “betrayed by some people” at the final stage, resulting to a 3–1 result instead.
“No one should complain about 3–1. We tried our best for 4–0. But, as I said in my Twitter post, at the last stage, we were betrayed by some people,” Omar told reporters in Srinagar. “Almost everyone knows the names of those who betrayed us. It is not necessary to repeat them here. But it’s a pity.”
The BJP surprised the ruling National Conference by winning one of the four Rajya Sabha seats, securing 32 votes, four more than its assembly strength of 28 in the assembly. The ruling NC won the remaining three seats.
Omar thanked the Congress and other parties who voted for the National Conference, saying not a single NC vote was wasted. “All the voters showed their polling slips to our chief agent. And, not a single vote of the National Conference was wasted,” he said.
Responding to the BJP’s claim that four non-BJP legislators voted for its candidate, Omar said the issue was not about numbers but about loyalty. “The concern is that these people stayed with us, participated in our meetings, ate our food, and then joined hands with the BJP. It would have been better if they had the courage to openly say that they wanted to help the BJP,” he said.
Without naming Sajad Lone directly, Omar said non-BJP members who opposed the NC should have followed the example of the Handwara MLA, whose chose to abstain.
“ He (Lone) is making long reels like a professor… he had some compulsions and did not want to harm the BJP. So, he openly boycotted the elections and abstained,” Omar said. “But those who secretly helped the BJP should have the courage now to admit that they voted for BJP or got their votes invalid to benefit them.” People’s Conference president Sajad Lone, who was the only legislator to abstain from voting yesterday labelled the results as a “fixed match”.
When asked whether he would thank the PDP, Abdullah said, “Those who voted for us, those who worked hard for the success of our candidates, I would like to thank all of them.”
The BJP surprised the National Conference by clinching one of the four seats at stake in the first assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370, winning with 32 votes — four more than its strength of 28 in the assembly.
