Jammu, Oct 25: Calling it a “historic win,” Jammu and Kashmir BJP president Sat Sharma on Saturday said the party’s victory in the Rajya Sabha polls came despite Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s alleged attempts to “create a division on the basis of Jammu versus Kashmir.”
Speaking to reporters after receiving a rousing welcome from jubilant party workers on his return from Kashmir, Sharma said the BJP’s win reflected a shift in the political mood of the region. “I did not offer anything to anyone but asked legislators to vote with their conscience. This time we got four votes; next time, 40 more people will side with us,” he said.
The BJP also rejected People’s Conference leader Sajad Gani Lone’s allegation that the Rajya Sabha election was a “fixed match” between the National Conference (NC) and 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.
Sharma defeated NC candidate Imran Nabi Dar by securing 32 votes against his opponent’s 22 in the third notification. NC’s Gurwinder Singh Oberoi also got elected under this notification by securing 31 votes.
“In the third notification, the BJP emerged as the biggest party and it is a historic win for the party. I did not offer anything to anyone but asked the legislators to vote after listening to their conscience. This time we got four votes, next time 40 more people will side with us listening to their conscience,” Sharma told reporters at the party headquarters here.
He was accorded a warm welcome on his arrival at Jammu airport and was taken in a procession to Trikuta Nagar party headquarters, amid high-pitch sloganeering in support of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Asked about the statement of People’s Conference leader Sajad Gani Lone, accusing the NC of “gifting” seven votes to the BJP to ensure the saffron party’s victory on one Rajya Sabha seat, he said, “What he is saying now has no meaning. Why did he not vote? He should have voted, whether for A or B. Staying away from voting is undemocratic.”
Addressing the party workers, the BJP leader said, “This is a historic victory for the BJP. We have won the seat from the soil of Kashmir, despite attempts by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his party to create a division on the basis of Jammu versus Kashmir. He (Abdullah) asked the legislators to unite against the BJP, which won 29 seats from Jammu in the 2024 Assembly polls.
“I am dedicating my win to the prime minister, party workers. We will continue to serve the people under ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas Sabka Vishwas Sabka Prayas’.”
He said despite the cold, a large number of party workers assembled outside the civil secretariat and chanted ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ to celebrate the party’s success.
“Kashmir is a changed place where people can move around Lal Chowk without any fear and take pictures anytime,” he said, expressing confidence of winning bypolls in both Nagrota and Budgam Assembly segments scheduled for November 11.
Leader of Opposition in J-K Assembly Sunil Sharma said they are thankful to seven legislators who “rejected” the NC and supported the party 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 said his party 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 the NC and the BJP.
Meanwhile, BJP’s disgruntled leader Jahanzaib Sirwal slammed “shameful horse-trading” in the Rajya Sabha elections.
“It is profoundly disheartening to witness a society where the deplorable practices of horse-trading and voting against party whips are not only normalised but glorified as so-called political masterstrokes. This alarming trend signals a severe degradation of our political system, undermining the very principles of democracy,” Sirwal said in a statement here.
He said the spectacle of leaders openly boasting about securing each other’s votes is a “shameful display of opportunism”.
