Srinagar, Oct 24 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday congratulated the three National Conference candidates on their victory in the Rajya Sabha elections, but said his party lost the fourth seat as it was “let down at the last moment”.
The National Conference (NC) won three Rajya Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir, while the opposition BJP emerged victorious on one.
“Heartiest congratulations to my colleagues Chowdry Mohammad Ramzan, Sajad Kichloo and Shammi Oberoi on their victory in the Rajya Sabha polls. I wish them well as they begin a new innings representing the people of Jammu and Kashmir in Parliament,” Abdullah said in a post on X.
The chief minister, who is also the vice president of the NC, said the party had put in its best effort to get its candidate Imran Nabi Dar elected to the fourth seat, but was let down at the last moment”.
“At the same time, my heart goes out to my young colleague Imran Nabi Dar. We put in our best effort to get him elected, but were let down at the last moment. It’s not easy to lose a hard-fought election, but I’m confident other opportunities will open up for him soon,” he said.
However, Abdullah said there was no cross-voting by the party’s MLAs.
“All of JK NC 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 of the BJP come from?” he posed.
The chief minister wanted to know who the MLAs were 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!” he added.
A BJP spokesperson said party candidate Sat Sharma won the fourth seat by securing 32 votes. NC candidate for the seat, Imran Nabi Dar, got 22 votes. PTI SSB NSD NSD
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