Sajad Lone accuses J&K CM Omar Abdullah of blocking Congress Rajya Sabha seat to favour BJP

SRINAGAR: In what comes as good news for the BJP, Peoples Conference (PC) chairman and MLA Sajad Gani Lone has announced that his party will abstain from voting in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir. He also alleged that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah denied a Rajya Sabha seat to the Congress on the behest of the BJP. Addressing a press conference, Sajad Lone accused Omar Abdullah of refusing to give a Rajya Sabha seat from J&K to his partys ally, the Congress. According to Lone, the National Conference (NC) had offered the Congress an unsafe seat (Seat No. 4), which the Congress declined to contest. The Congress reportedly stated that it had sought a safe seat from the NC, but the ruling party instead offered an unsafe one. As a result, the Congress decided against contesting the Rajya Sabha polls from Jammu and Kashmir. There are four vacant Rajya Sabha seats from the Union Territory, and polling is scheduled to be held on October 24. The NC has fielded four candidates, while the BJP has nominated three candidates for the four seats. With the NC alliance having the support of 53 members in the 88-member J&K Assembly, as against 28 by the BJP, the ruling party is poised to win three of the four seats. While the NC is assured of winning three seats, the BJP could secure Seat No. 4 if a few opposition, non-BJP MLAs abstain from voting. Sajad Lone challenged Omar Abdullah to prove that his party did not deny the Congress a Rajya Sabha seat on the BJPs instructions. Omar went to Delhi and participated in the Delhi Marathon. I had at that time told my colleagues that the NC will not give any RS seat to its ally Congress, Lone said. What could be better news for the BJP than the NC denying an RS seat to Congress? He said that although he may have differences with the Congress, it remains the only party that has not aligned with the BJP. I had aligned with the BJP. The PDP too had aligned with the BJP. Omar Abdullah was a minister in the BJP government. The Congress is the only party which has not aligned with the BJP, the PC chairman said. Regarding voting in the Rajya Sabha polls, Lone asserted that he would never vote for the NC candidate. I will die but would never vote for NC. I would have voted for Congress or any other secular party if they had fielded a candidate. How would I face my workers if I vote for NC? he asked. Lone, who is the only MLA from the Peoples Conference, confirmed that the party would abstain from the Rajya Sabha voting. With Lone making his stand clear, attention now turns to the strategy of other smaller parties the PDP with three MLAs, the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) with one MLA, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) with one MLA (currently in jail), and an independent member. If all non-BJP opposition MLAs vote for the NC, then the partys fourth candidate, Imran Nabi Dar, could also win. However, if even two members abstain, the BJPs victory on the fourth seat is almost certain. The Rajya Sabha election has become a high-stakes contest for both the ruling NC and the opposition BJP, as both are striving to strengthen their positions in Jammu and Kashmir. Voting for the four vacant Rajya Sabha seats will be held on October 24 between 9 am and 4 pm, and the counting of votes will take place the same day at 5 pm. The four Rajya Sabha seats from J&K fell vacant in February 2021 following the end of the terms of PDP MPs Mir Mohammad Fayaz and Nazir Ahmed Laway, BJP MP Shamsher Singh, and former Congress MP Ghulam Nabi Azad.