Udhampur (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], October 25 : Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary on Saturday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of indulging in "vote chori" (vote theft) and "horse-trading" to secure a fourth Rajya Sabha seat from the Union Territory.
Addressing the media in Udhampur, Choudhary alleged that the BJP could not have won without offering "lollipops", a metaphor for financial or political inducements to MLAs to cross-vote.
Choudhary highlighted the victory of three Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) candidates to the Rajya Sabha, asserting that they would represent the voice of the people of Jammu and Kashmir in the Parliament.
"Our three MPs will raise the voice of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and will also take forward our fight to restore statehood," he said.
However, Choudhary described the BJP's win on the fourth seat as illegitimate. "The BJP tried its best to win all the Rajya Sabha seats through horse-trading, as we had predicted earlier. However, they could not succeed as they wished and managed to win only one seat," he stated.
He further claimed that the BJP's victory was solely due to "vote chori and horse-trading", without which, he said, they would not have won the seat.
The Deputy Chief Minister also announced that the party would conduct an internal probe to identify the MLAs who cross-voted for the BJP. "We will analyse this. There are traitors (Gaddars) everywhere, like Jaichand, who voted for the BJP. Otherwise, the National Conference would have won all four seats," Choudhary said.
He added that efforts were underway to identify those who were given "lollipops" in exchange for their votes.
Dismissing speculation of any understanding between the National Conference and the BJP, Choudhary said, "They are wrong, and I want to tell them that the National Conference will never make any deal with the BJP."
The Deputy CM's remarks have heightened political tensions in Jammu and Kashmir, with the issue of alleged cross-voting and "horse-trading" expected to dominate the political discourse in the coming days.