NC was ‘betrayed by supporters’, Abdullahs say, after losing one Rajya Sabha seat from J&K

A day after the BJP surprised by winning one of the four Rajya Sabha seats from Jammu and Kashmir, National Conference (NC) leaders said on Saturday, October 25, 2025, that they were “betrayed by our own people”.

NC president Farooq Abdullah said, “We could have won all four seats. Those who promised us betrayed us. Such things happen in elections.”

While BJP candidate Sat Sharma received 32 votes against NC candidate Imran Nabi Dar’s 22 votes, the BJP has only 28 members in the J&K Assembly. Most of the independent MLAs and regional parties had claimed to support the NC.

‘BJP’s request was rejected’

Senior Abdullah claimed that the BJP had appealed to the NC ahead of the vote. Abdullah said, “They came to us and asked us to give them a place without competition. We refused and went on the field and fought.”

NC won the remaining three Rajya Sabha seats from J&K and Dr. Abdullah thanked Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti, Congress and Independents for “standing with” him.

‘He was betrayed’

NC vice-president and J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the NC was betrayed by people who “attend our meetings and dine with us”.

“I am satisfied that not a single NC vote went wrong. All NC voters showed their votes to the chief representative. It would have been better if they had clearly said that they wanted to support the BJP, as our MLA from Handwara did,” Mr. Abdullah said.

However, Handwara MLA Sajad Gani Lone, who chairs the J&K People’s Conference, claimed that the NC was actually supporting the BJP. “NC legislators helped the BJP in securing one out of four seats. The extra votes that went to the BJP came from the NC. Seven of its members supported the BJP. This was not a cross-voting of others; they did it themselves,” Mr. Lone said. He was hesitant to vote.

PDP chief Ms Mufti congratulated NC’s Choudhary Muhammad Ramzan Sahab, Sajjad Kichloo and Shami Oberoi on their election to Rajya Sabha. “I hope they will use this platform to strongly represent and speak on behalf of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said in a post on X.