Political circles believe few of independents may have tilted balance in favour of BJP, whereas PC ‘s Sajad Lone termed it as potential manipulation, alleging ‘fixed match’ between NC and BJP

A political storm has erupted in Jammu and Kashmir following Friday’s Rajya Sabha elections, as suspicions of cross-voting and invalid ballots have cast a shadow over the results.People’s Conference President and Handwara MLA Sajad Gani Lone has strongly criticized the outcome of polls terming them a “fixed match” between the National Conference (NC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), while as the other parties too are in guessing mode as to who are the 4 MLAs who enabled BJP grab surpise win.  

While the National Conference (NC) secured a sweeping victory by winning three of the four seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed to clinch one seat—reportedly with support from four independent MLAs, raising serious questions about political loyalties within the newly elected Assembly. All 86 legislators cast their votes in the election, including incarcerated Doda MLA Mehraj Malik, who voted through postal ballot.BJP leader Sat Sharma secured the fourth Rajya Sabha seat from Jammu Kashmir by receiving 32 votes, surpassing the 28 votes held by his party.

His opponent, NC’s Imran Nabi Dar, received 22 votes. The BJP’s higher vote count suggests cross-voting from MLAs outside the party, contributing to Sharma’s victory.Soon after the results were announced, NC Vice President Omar Abdullah took to social media platform X to question the BJP’s unexpected tally.“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 four extra votes for the BJP come from?” Omar wrote.

He further accused unnamed MLAs of deliberately invalidating their ballots by marking incorrect preferences to indirectly benefit the BJP.“Do they have the guts to 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!” he added. Sources said that the BJP’s vote count exceeded its official strength in the Assembly, suggesting that at least four independents or smaller party legislators may have crossed over.

Political circles believe that a few among these independents may have tilted the balance in favour of the BJP during Friday’s Rajya Sabha polls, though none have publicly acknowledged switching sides. Their role has become central to the growing controversy around the mysterious four extra votes that benefited the saffron party.Sajjad Lone, taking to social media platform X (formerly Twitter), expressed his disapproval after NC secured three of the four Rajya Sabha seats and BJP won one seat. “So BJP wins the fourth seat. As predicted — fixed match. Axis of the evil — NC and BJP. Thank God I abstained. Imagine what my plight would have been,” he wrote in a post that quickly drew attention.The People’s Conference leader alleged that the voting outcomes indicated a pre-arranged understanding between the two parties.

Lone pointed out that the NC cast more votes than necessary for its third candidate, highlighting a potential manipulation. “Why did NC poll extra votes for candidate 3? They didn’t need to. They polled 31 votes for candidate 3. Only 28 or 29 would have sufficed since BJP was contesting for seat four,” he claimed. Reacting to the outcome, PDP President Mehbooba Mufti congratulated the NC, saying the results reflected “a united stand of regional forces to defend J&K’s interests in Parliament.”