Jammu: Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary on Saturday alleged that the BJP’s victory in one of the Rajya Sabha seats from Jammu and Kashmir confirmed the opposition’s long-standing accusations of “vote theft” by the party.
Amid allegations of cross-voting among non-BJP parties during Friday’s Rajya Sabha polls, Choudhary said the National Conference (NC) would rather quit the government than forge an alliance with the BJP.
In the first Rajya Sabha elections held in Jammu and Kashmir since its conversion into a Union Territory in 2019, the ruling NC secured three seats, while the BJP won one.
“We often heard that the BJP buys and steals votes, but people in J&K didn’t believe it. This time, it has been proven true,” Choudhary told reporters in Udhampur. “I won’t say how they managed it or whether money was involved, but they clearly manipulated some votes.”
Opposition parties, including the Congress, have accused the BJP and the Election Commission of colluding to “steal votes” to ensure the party’s win.
Choudhary, who is set to campaign alongside NC candidate Shamim Begum for the upcoming Nagrota bypolls, said the BJP had only 28 legislators, yet its candidate received 32 votes. “Where did those extra four votes come from?” he asked.
“This lollipop party lectures others about principles and decency, but they should first learn those values from us,” he added.
He reiterated that the NC neither exchanged votes for money nor made any backdoor deals, insisting that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had already warned about BJP’s plans for horse-trading. “It’s now proven that they indulged in horse-trading,” Choudhary said, asserting that no NC legislator cross-voted in favour of the BJP.
“We can leave power, but we will never ally with the BJP,” he declared. “We were supposed to win all four seats, but we lost one because some traitors betrayed us despite assuring support.”
Choudhary said the NC had initially intended to give the fourth seat to the Congress, but when Congress opted out, the NC fielded its own candidate at the last moment.
Dismissing fears of political retaliation, he said, “I’m not afraid to speak the truth. If I had a deal with the BJP, my security wouldn’t have been downgraded. We’ll continue to be the voice of the people.”
He also hit out at those blaming the NC for the BJP’s win, saying they were “trying to hide their own actions.” In an apparent dig at Peoples Conference leader Sajad Gani Lone, he said, “What does abstaining mean? It means helping the BJP. They are hand in glove with them.”
Lone had accused the NC of “gifting” seven votes to the BJP in what he described as a “fixed match” between the two parties.
Choudhary said the NC’s Rajya Sabha members would serve as the “voice of the people of J&K” before Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. “They will speak for the poor and for the government of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said, noting that the party had ensured representation for the Sikh community by nominating Gurwinder Singh Oberoi.
He concluded by vowing that the NC would contest the Nagrota bypolls with full strength to secure victory.
