Who Helped BJP Win? Cross-Voting Mystery Clouds Rajya Sabha Outcome in J&K
Mudasir Yaqoob
Srinagar, Oct 24:
In a twist that has set off intense political murmurs across Jammu and Kashmir, BJP leader Sat Sharma on Friday clinched the fourth Rajya Sabha seat from the Union Territory, bagging 32 votes — four more than the BJP’s actual strength in the Legislative Assembly.
The numbers have sparked a flurry of questions: Who helped the BJP cross the line?
As per the official figures, the BJP commands 28 legislators in the 90-member House. Yet, Sharma’s final tally of 32 votes clearly points to cross-voting from outside the saffron ranks.
Political observers say that while the BJP’s victory fills one of the four Upper House seats from J&K, the “extra four votes” have exposed deep fissures within the rival camp.
“The arithmetic doesn’t permit BJP to go beyond 28 unless others chose to look the other way,” said a political insider, hinting at a silent understanding between a few non-BJP legislators and the party.
The National Conference (NC) had gone into the election confident of sweeping all four seats, given its strength and the apparent opposition unity. Its candidates — Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan, Sajad Kichloo, and Gurwinder Singh Oberoi — comfortably won the first three seats.
But the fourth seat turned out to be a shock and a setback, particularly for the NC-led alliance, which now faces uncomfortable questions within its ranks.
Insiders suggest that individual dissent and backroom deals might have altered the outcome. “Such results don’t happen without active facilitation,” a senior NC leader admitted off record, while terming the cross-voting “a betrayal of collective conscience.”
The development has also thrown light on the new political fluidity in post-Article 370 Jammu and Kashmir, where alignments are being quietly redrawn and ideological boundaries appear increasingly porous.
For the BJP, the win is more symbolic than numerical — proof that it can still maneuver and find allies in unexpected corners of J&K’s political theatre.
“This victory is beyond arithmetic,” a BJP functionary told ANN News, refusing to comment on the source of the additional votes. “It shows growing acceptance of the BJP’s political vision.”
For the National Conference, the outcome has come as a moment of introspection. The party’s leadership, sources say, has sought a detailed internal report on the voting pattern. Some within the party have demanded that those who defied the line should be named and exposed.
“This was supposed to be a clean sweep,” said a senior NC member. “Someone from within ensured it wasn’t.”
The Rajya Sabha polls were the first since the abrogation of Article 370 and the reorganization of J&K into a Union Territory. The outcome has, therefore, acquired larger significance — signalling shifting loyalties and fragile alliances in the new political order.
As one analyst put it, “If BJP can get 32 votes when it only has 28, the message is clear — conscience or convenience, someone switched sides. Who helped the BJP to win?.”
