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‘Where did 4 extra votes come from?’: Omar Abdullah challenges BJP's Rajya Sabha poll win
Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) won three Rajya Sabha seats in the union territory, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured one.
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Friday raised questions over the Rajya Sabha election results, noting that there was "no cross-voting" from any of the four JKNC legislators. He asked where BJP candidate Sat Paul Sharma's extra votes came from.
The ruling Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) won three Rajya Sabha seats in the union territory, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured one.
Omar Abdullah took to X, saying, “All of @JKNC_votes remained intact across the four elections, as witnessed by our election agent who saw each polling slip. There was no cross voting from any of our MLAs, so the question arises—where did the 4 extra votes of the BJP come from?”
He further asked: “Who were the MLAs who deliberately invalidated their votes by marking a wrong preference number while voting? Do they have the guts to put their hands up and own up to helping the BJP after promising us their votes? What pressure or inducement helped them make this choice? Let's see if any of the BJP's secret team own up to selling their souls!”
JKNC wins three seats, BJP secures one
Senior JKNC leader Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan was elected to the Rajya Sabha from J-K with 58 votes. Fellow party members Sajad Kichloo and Shammi Oberoi were also declared winners.
In a post on X, the National Conference congratulated its leaders, stating, “JKNC senior leader Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan has been elected to the Rajya Sabha from Jammu Kashmir, winning by 58 votes. Congratulations!”
Meanwhile, state's BJP President Sat Paul Sharma won the fourth seat with 32 votes, defeating NC’s Imran Nabi Dar, who secured 22 votes.
All four Rajya Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir had been vacant since February 2021, following the retirement of Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mir Mohammad Fayaz, Shamsher Singh, and Nazir Ahmed Laway.
