Srinagar, May 06: The political row over alleged cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha elections intensified in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday, with the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) launching scathing attacks against each other.
While PDP MLA Waheed-ur-Rehman Para accused the NC of deflecting attention from governance issues and internal failures, the NC hit back, alleging a “criminal sell-out” by the PDP and demanding accountability over the party’s role in the polls.
Blaming PDP won’t save NC failures and party imploding: MLA Waheed Para
The controversy over cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha polls refuses to die down, with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) slamming the National Conference (NC) on Tuesday. The PDP said the ruling party’s outrage over the polls was “misplaced” and aimed at creating a political distraction.
In a detailed post on X as per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), PDP MLA Waheed-ur-Rehman Para accused the NC of diverting attention from “real issues” such as the Siraj-ul-Aloom controversy and the alleged removal of Urdu from official records.
He said the NC’s outrage over the Rajya Sabha outcome was “misplaced” and intended to distract from substantive concerns. “This is not fundamentally about the Rajya Sabha. It serves as a diversion from substantive concerns, notably the Siraj-ul-Aloom controversy and the erasure of Urdu from official records,” Para stated.
Para also referred to recent political developments in Jammu and Kashmir, alleging that the NC had disintegrated the PAGD alliance and ensured the PDP’s exclusion from the INDIA alliance arrangement during the Assembly elections.
“Against this backdrop, it is clear that the PDP did not owe cooperation to the NC. Yet, we extended unconditional support,” he said, adding that blaming the PDP for the Rajya Sabha outcome was “inaccurate and counterproductive.”
“The failure, Omar Sahab must realise, lies close to Nawai Subh,” Para remarked.
The PDP leader further said Mehbooba Mufti had neither abstained from the voting process nor imposed conditions, despite being aware of internal dissent within the NC. He also questioned the NC’s criticism regarding polling agents during the Rajya Sabha election, noting that key decisions in the process were the responsibility of the NC itself.
Para accused the NC of weakening opposition unity and indirectly helping the BJP by targeting the PDP. “Targeting the PDP risks playing directly into a broader BJP agenda to fracture electoral unity in J&K,” he said.
He urged the Omar Abdullah-led government to focus on governance and delivery instead of engaging in political blame games over the Rajya Sabha seat.
Para’s statement came a day after the NC asked PDP president Mehbooba Mufti and her party MLAs to swear publicly that they did not vote for the BJP.
In the Rajya Sabha polls held last year, eight MLAs who had pledged support to the ruling NC voted in a manner that helped the BJP secure a seat.
NC accuses PDP of “criminal sell‑out” in Rajya Sabha polls
The National Conference on Tuesday said that the Peoples Democratic Party is attempting to weave a fake narrative after being asked to explain what it termed a “criminal sell‑out” in the Rajya Sabha elections.
In a post on X as per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), NC spokesman Imran Nabi Dar alleged that the PDP has shown its loyalty remains with the BJP.
“The PDP’s juvenile MLA and his coterie continue to hallucinate and fabricate false narratives when asked to explain their betrayal in the RS polls. To dismiss this as ‘just one seat’ is an insult to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. That seat was a test of loyalty, and the PDP has shown where its allegiance lies – with the BJP,” Dar said.
He added that diversionary tactics would not succeed, stressing that the people of J&K demand accountability for the PDP’s actions in the Rajya Sabha elections.
“Your diversionary tactics will not work. People of J&K demand an answer for why you did what you did in the RS polls,” he said.
Information revealed by the Assembly Secretariat, in response to an application filed under the Right to Information Act (2005), showed that the PDP had not appointed authorized agents to verify whom its MLAs had voted for. Rajya Sabha elections are conducted through an open ballot, where authorized agents of political parties verify the votes cast by their MLAs.
KNO
