Cross-voting by some ruling coalition MLAs helped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secure one of the four Rajya Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir, though it lacks the numbers in the Assembly.
BJP candidate Sat Pal Sharma won the fourth seat with 32 votes—four more than the party’s actual strength. The extra votes indicate that a few MLAs from the ruling National Conference (NC)-Congress-PDP alliance or their supporters voted in his favour.
In contrast, NC candidate Imran Nabi Dar, who was expected to win comfortably with 28–29 votes, secured only 21 votes—seven short of the required number. This shortfall paved the way for the BJP’s victory.
The ruling alliance, comprising 41 MLAs from NC, six from Congress, three from PDP, one from CPI(M) and seven independents, had a combined strength of 58 votes—enough to win both of the remaining seats. However, they managed to get only 51 valid votes.
Reports suggest that the BJP benefited from four MLAs voting in its favour, two deliberate vote cancellations, and one extra vote cast for another NC candidate, either by mistake or design.
It also emerged that the PDP had no authorised polling agents to verify its MLAs’ ballots before they were cast. The PDP had earlier pledged its support to the NC to prevent the BJP from winning any seats, in return for backing its bills during the ongoing Assembly session.
Further confusion arose when Congress MLA Nizamuddin Bhat, who served as the party’s polling agent, cast his vote without a substitute agent being present.
The alliance’s failure to retain the fourth seat has exposed poor coordination and internal dissent within the ruling coalition—factors that ultimately helped the BJP maintain its foothold in the Rajya Sabha from J&K.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah questioned how the BJP managed to secure the extra votes and who among the MLAs invalidated their ballots. “All NC votes remained intact across the four elections,” he said, citing the party’s election agent.
Taking to X, Omar wrote: “Who were the MLAs who deliberately invalidated their votes while voting? Do they have the guts to admit to helping the BJP after promising us their support? What pressure or inducement made them change their choice?”