Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Feb 7: Newly formed PDP-BJP combine today wrested three Rajya Sabha seats from National Conference and Congress leaving only one for the former coalition partners in Jammu and Kashmir with Leader of Opposition and Congress veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad emerging the lone winner from NC-Congress alliance, whose two candidates, as expected, lost the poll.
With today’s election, UPA’s strength has gone down by three in the Rajya Sabha while NDA’s number has gone up by an equal number of seats.
Apart from Azad, two candidates of PDP—Mir Mohammad Fayaz and Nazir Ahmad Laway (both of whom had lost last year’s Assembly elections) and BJP nominee Shamsher Singh Manhas made it to the Rajya Sabha, according to the results declared late this evening by Mohammad Ramzan, Returning Officer for the elections and Secretary Legislative Assembly.
Both NC candidates—Sajjad Ahmed Kitchloo and Nasir Aslam Wani lost the elections. BJP’s Chander Mohan Sharma was the third loser.
According to political observers, though the PDP-BJP alliance wrested three Rajya Sabha seats from NC-Congress, who had won all four seats in 2009, it was major strategy failure of the BJP’s Central and State leadership, which despite being in power at the Centre and about to form Government in the State, failed to muster the support of even two Independent candidates, which would have ensured the victory of Chander Mohan Sharma and another seat to the BJP in the Rajya Sabha.
While Azad being in the Opposition managed support of three Independents and Others including Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami (CPM), Hakim Mohammad Yasin and Engineer Abdul Rashid, the BJP being in power, failed to win over them leading to defeat of one of its candidates.
The observers said BJP general secretary Ram Madhav, who made frequent trips to Jammu and Kashmir and had been assigned responsibility of co-ordinating with PDP and Independents to ensure victory of party’s two candidates and State president Jugal Kishore Sharma failed in their strategy and virtually did nothing to get extra votes for the party.
“The BJP leaders even didn’t pay courtesy calls to the Independent MLAs, which Azad did. Supporters of Azad including several MLAs of NC and Congress repeatedly met the Independent MLAs to claim support for the Alliance candidates and succeeded,’’ the political observers said, adding that Tarigami and Hakim not only voted for Azad but also for the NC candidates—Kitchloo and Nasir Aslam Wani.
The Observers pointed out that there was urgent need for the BJP to immediately revamp its State unit including the president, whose wrong distribution of tickets and other tactical failures had also cost the BJP nearly half a dozen Assembly seats.
Official sources told the Excelsior that PDP candidates Mir Mohammad Fayaz polled 56 votes as against NC’s Sajjad Ahmed Kitchloo, who got 29, on the election for first seat of Rajya Sabha against Notification No. 1 and won by a margin of 27 votes. On second seat against Notification No. 2, BJP’s Shamsher Singh Manhas polled 57 votes while his NC rival Nasir Aslam Wani got 29 votes. Manhas won by 28 votes.
In crucial battle for two seats on Notification No. 3, Azad polled 30 votes and PDP’s Nazir Ahmad Laway got 29. Both of them made it to the Rajya Sabha. BJP’s Chander Mohan Sharma polled 28 votes and lost.
The voting pattern indicated that there was no cross-voting or abstentions as all 87 newly elected MLAs cast their votes. On first seat, which PDP’s Mir Mohammad Fayaz won, he polled all 28 votes of PDP, 25 of BJP, two from People’s Conference and one from Independent MLA from Zanskar Bakir Hussain Rizvi. On second seat, which BJP’s Shamsher Singh Manhas won, he polled 57 votes. Sources said Fayaz polled one less vote as one of the candidates exercised the option of NOTA (None of the Above) on his seat. Independent Pawan Gupta voted for both PDP and BJP candidates.
NC-Congress candidates on first and second seat—Sajjad Ahmad Kitchloo and Nasir Aslam Wani (both of whom had served as Ministers of State in Omar Abdullah regime) polled 29 votes each—15 of NC, 12 from Congress and two from Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami (CPM) and Hakim Mohammad Yasin. Another Independent Engineer Rashid cast his vote only for Notification No. 3 in favour of Azad but didn’t vote for Kitchloo and Wani while Tarigami and Yasin voted for all three NC-Congress candidates.
For Notification No. 3, Azad polled 30 votes, Nazir Ahmad Laway (29) and Chander Mohan Sharma (28).
Sources said Azad got all 15 votes of NC, 12 of Congress and three Independents and Others—Tarigami, Hakim Yasin and Engineer Rashid while Laway got 28 votes of PDP and one of Independent Bakir Hussain Rizvi. Sharma polled 25 votes of BJP, two of People’s Conference and one of Pawan Gupta.
Sources said two MLAs of People’s Conference from Kashmir including powerful Kashmiri leader Sajjad Ahmad Lone, who represents Handwara seat and Advocate Bashir Ahmad, MLA Kupwara and Independent MLA from Udhampur, Pawan Gupta, a strongman of the BJP, who had defied all odds to win the Assembly seat as an Independent after being denied party mandate, have sided with the BJP in the Rajya Sabha elections. While People’s Conference MLAs also voted for PDP candidate, Pawan Gupta cast his vote only in favour of two BJP contestants.
Sources said Gupta sided with the BJP on the intervention of party high command, which has assured to address all the issues raised by him including action against two State party leaders, who were instrumental in misleading the top party leaders to deny him the mandate.
The victory for Azad came as major relief for him as he had lost last year’s Lok Sabha elections from Udhampur-Doda seat to BJP’s Dr Jitendra Singh. He would have lost the post of Leader of Opposition in case he lost the Rajya Sabha election.
Though the BJP could have won both the Rajya Sabha seats by making little efforts to woo the Independents, it nevertheless created history by winning a Rajya Sabha seat from Jammu and Kashmir for the first time. The PDP had earlier won lone Rajya Sabha seat in 2002 (Tarlok Singh Bajwa) when it had formed coalition Government with the Congress while in 2009, NC-Congress had won all four Rajya Sabha seats from the State.
The BJP-led NDA, which is in minority in Rajya Sabha, would gain three seats from J&K at the cost of UPA as Congress managed to retain only one seat.
In 2009 elections, NC and Congress had won all four Rajya Sabha seats in J&K. Dr Farooq Abdullah and Mohammad Shafi Uri (both NC), Ghulam Nabi Azad and Prof Saif-ud-Din Soz (both Congress) were the winners. However, Dr Abdullah had later vacated his Rajya Sabha seat after being elected to Lok Sabha from Srinagar. In his place, NC leader Ghulam Nabi Ratanpuri had been elected to Rajya Sabha.
Counting for the votes, which was due to start at 5 pm was delayed by about an hour, as three complaints had been referred to the Election Commission by the Returning Officer. One of the complaints was made by the BJP against Independent candidate Engineer Abdul Rashid as he had openly declared in the premises of polling hall that he was voting for Azad. Second complaint was made by the BJP that three MLCs including Devender Singh Rana, Abdul Majeed and Javed Rana held duel membership as they were members of Legislative Council also and can’t cast their votes.
The Election Commission overruled both these objections on the ground that whenever an Upper House member is elected MLA, he ceased to be MLC and was eligible to cast his vote. The EC also turned down the BJP plea to cancel Rashid’s vote. The Congress complaint that all 25 BJP MLAs had come together to cast the vote was also turned down by the Commission.
Earlier, all 87 MLAs including PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and NC leader Omar Abdullah cast their votes.
Speaking to reporters after his victory, Azad said his victory was start of the defeat of “communal forces’’.
“My victory is victory of secular forces including NC, Congress and Independents. The communal forces have lost,’’ he said.
On Delhi elections, he said the “communal forces’’ will lose there also. Asked how many seats the Congress will win, he said he can’t say about the Congress seats but the BJP would lose in Delhi.
On Modi wave, Azad said there was never a Modi wave but it had been created.
BJP’s first Rajya Sabha member from Jammu and Kashmir, Shamsher Singh Manhas said he would raise the voice of people of Jammu and Kashmir in the House of Elders. “I will raise the issue of the people including development etc,’’ he declared.
BJP president Jugal Kishore Sharma said the BJP was confident of victory of both the seats “but Azad manipulated the votes of Independent candidates and won’’. He said: “the BJP didn’t believe in the politics of horse-trading, of which Azad was the master and today he again proved this’’.
PDP’s newly elected MPs Mir Mohammad Fayaz and Nazir Ahmad Laway vowed to work for development and betterment of Jammu and Kashmir and highlight issues of the State in the Rajya Sabha.
After casting his vote, Sajjad Lone said his People’s Conference party was pre-poll ally of the BJP and not post-poll.
“I have not made alliance with BJP after the results were out. Instead, I did it before polls. I don’t ride two horses,’’ he said, adding the BJP-PDP alliance would be a great combination to pull the State out of present political and economic crisis.
He described the alliance as wonderful combination for welfare of Jammu and Kashmir.
Taking a dig at Omar Abdullah, Sajjad asked when Omar was Minister in the NDA Government, why he didn’t think of safeguarding secularism then? He said his alliance with BJP was not based on opportunism but was meant for welfare of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
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