Srinagar, October 25, 202 5: Peoples Conference (PC) chairman and Handwara MLA Sajad Gani Lone on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the National Conference (NC), alleging that the party “gifted seven MLAs” to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the recent Rajya Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing a press conference in Srinagar, Lone accused the NC of “killing merit” through its approach to reservations and “colluding with the BJP” in the polls held on Friday.
“This government is out to kill merit. Open merit has been buried. We are going to start a ground-level registration drive against this reservation policy,” Lone said, warning that the ongoing system was “pushing Kashmir toward a major disaster.”
He announced that his party would soon launch a campaign against the reservation policy, which he described as “anti-merit and discriminatory.”
“We will go door to door. If hunger strikes or mass protests are required, we will not hesitate. Enough is enough,” he asserted.
Turning to the Rajya Sabha results — in which the NC secured three seats and the BJP one — Lone accused the ruling NC of orchestrating cross-voting to aid the BJP’s win.
“All the cross-voting was done by the National Conference. They did it themselves. Seven of their members directly gifted votes to the BJP. It was a fixed match,” he alleged.
He claimed the NC’s conduct exposed its double standards, saying,
“This is the same party that accuses others of siding with the BJP, but today, they are sitting in BJP’s lap. Even if BJP isn’t ruling directly, their preferred party is in power.”
Criticising NC vice president Omar Abdullah, Lone alleged that the Congress was deliberately denied a winnable seat.
“They offered Congress a losing seat — number four. Omar Abdullah kept saying, ‘Why don’t they contest for number four?’ They wanted it this way,” he said, adding that as a national party, Congress should have been given priority over regional players.
He further accused former NC Rajya Sabha members of “failing to deliver for J&K” during their terms in Delhi.
“None of them brought anything substantial back. They went only to secure small personal favours,” he claimed.
Lone also revisited the events surrounding the abrogation of Article 370, alleging that “midnight meetings” took place between Delhi and NC leaders before August 5, 2019.
“It was betrayal after betrayal. For seventy years, they’ve gone to Delhi saying, ‘Beat us but let us weep,’” he remarked.
Urging people to “see through the political deception,” Lone said the BJP ensures its political success through such alliances.
“They abuse BJP during elections to fool voters, but work with them behind the scenes,” he said.
The PC chief concluded by thanking God for his own decision to abstain from voting.
“I am grateful to Allah that I stayed away from this corrupt process. Otherwise, all fingers would have been pointed at me today,” Lone said.
