JKPC Chief Sajad Lone to Skip Rajya Sabha Voting, Accuses Omar Abdullah of BJP Alignment

New Delhi: Peoples Conference (PC) Chairman Sajad Gani Lone announced on Tuesday that he will abstain from voting for National Conference (NC) candidates, accusing Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of betraying Congress at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).   

Lone, a vocal critic of the NC's leadership, made the announcement during a press conference in Srinagar, where he lambasted Abdullah for what he described as a pattern of cozying up to the BJP while preaching anti-BJP rhetoric to voters. 

“I will prefer death to giving my vote to NC candidates,” Lone said, vowing never to support the party “ideologically or practically”.

The controversy erupted after Abdullah, made a statement before the reporters, urged non-voters to reconsider, warning that abstaining from supporting NC would amount to "siding with the BJP. 

Lone dismissed the remark as “astonishing,” arguing it unfairly tars Congress and other opponents as BJP allies.

“Omar is on a trip to please the BJP,” Lone said. “You go to Delhi, sit in the BJP’s lap and then ask us to prove whether we are with the BJP or not,”.

At the heart of Lone's accusations is the NC's refusal to allocate a Rajya Sabha seat to Congress, despite the party's crucial backing during the 2024 elections that helped propel Abdullah's coalition to power.

Lone challenged the Chief Minister, he said “It is your government since last one year. And now you have to tell us, did you deny Congress one Rajya Sabha seat at the behest of BJP?”.

He alleged that a recent visit by a Ministry of Home Affairs official here included directives to withhold the seat from Congress, with Abdullah allegedly spending significant time with the official.

Lone painted a picture of NC duplicity, recalling historical collaborations between the party and BJP, including Abdullah's much-publicized meeting with Union Minister Kiran Rijiju at Srinagar's Tulip Garden.

He also mocked Abdullah's recent proposal to adopt a “Naveen Patnaik model”, a governance approach in Odisha led by the BJP's ally, as further evidence of alignment with New Delhi's ruling dispensation.

“Should I vote for you because you are gifting shawls to the BJP?” Lone quipped, referencing ceremonial gestures that he claimed symbolize capitulation.

"There will be no bigger happiness for BJP than NC denying a seat to Congress,” Lone added, framing the seat denial as a strategic gift to the party's adversaries.

Lone's critique extended to the NC's role in the 2024 elections, which he said were fought on an explicitly anti-BJP platform only for the winners to “sit in the lap of BJP” post-victory.

“We lost the elections and our expectations were shattered. How many times must we be blamed for the same thing?” he lamented, accusing Abdullah of misleading Kashmiris with unfulfilled promises.

He even cited the plight of ordinary citizens under the current administration, such as a worker whose ailing mother was denied a routine transfer, as emblematic of governance failures.

Responding to Abdullah's reported outreach efforts, “Has Omar Abdullah even made one call to us and sought our vote?”

Meanwhile, National Conference (NC) leader and Srinagar Member of Parliament Aga Ruhullah Mehdi recently said that he will not participate in the party’s campaign for the upcoming Budgam Assembly bypolls, pointing to unfulfilled commitments from the previous Assembly term.

Mehdi, a seasoned representative of the Budgam constituency, emphasized that his decision is rooted in principle rather than political convenience.

“I cannot campaign when promises made to the people remain unmet,” he had said.

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