Srinagar, Oct 24: The ruling National Conference\u2019s meticulously crafted plan to sweep all four Rajya Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir was derailed by one man\u2014BJP leader and Leader of Opposition, Sunil Kumar Sharma.<\/p>\n
The 48-year-old Sharma, known for his quiet yet calculated political maneuvers, had been working behind the scenes for the past two weeks to secure the BJP\u2019s victory on the fourth seat. The odds were heavily stacked against the party, especially after the Congress, PDP, and all independent MLAs publicly declared their support for the National Conference earlier in the day.<\/p>\n
With a clear numerical advantage, the NC-led alliance was poised to win both the third and fourth seats. The BJP\u2019s chances appeared slim, particularly after independents Shabir Kulley and Sheikh Khursheed announced their intention to vote for the ruling alliance to block the BJP.<\/p>\n
However, cross-voting, intentional cancellation of votes by 7-8 MLAs helped the BJP clinch the fourth seat, sending its second-ever Member of Parliament to the Rajya Sabha from Jammu and Kashmir.<\/p>\n
The NC\u2019s defeat on this seat is being viewed as a political embarrassment, marking its failure to replicate the success of the 2009 Rajya Sabha elections when it had secured both the third and fourth seats.<\/p>\n
To understand how the BJP pulled off this unexpected win, this reporter spoke to at least 10 MLAs from various parties.<\/p>\n
Their accounts point to Sharma\u2019s discreet and strategic maneuvering, which outwitted the NC\u2019s top leadership despite their intensive poll management efforts.<\/p>\n
Described by colleagues as a shrewd politician, Sharma is known for maintaining cordial ties across party lines in Kashmir\u2019s political landscape.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has friends across the board, but he is a friend to none when it comes to organizational matters,\u201d a senior BJP leader told news agency\u2014Kashmir News Observer (KNO). \u201cHe began working on independents and party-affiliated MLAs early on and managed to secure their support.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sources familiar with Sharma\u2019s strategy revealed that he held a series of secret meetings with select independents and party-affiliated MLAs in Srinagar.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe would hold late-night meetings with MLAs at locations including Airport Road, Hyderpora, and Gupkar to influence their voting in favor of the BJP. He knew his official residence at M-1, Church Lane would attract attention, so he chose other venues,\u201d one source said.<\/p>\n
Another source added that Sharma\u2019s actions outside the Assembly complex, in full media glare on the first day of the autumn session, were part of a calculated strategy to shape perceptions ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was successful in his intent,\u201d the source said. (KNO)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Srinagar, Oct 24: The ruling National Conference\u2019s meticulously crafted plan to sweep all four Rajya Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir was derailed by one man\u2014BJP leader and Leader of Opposition, Sunil Kumar Sharma. The 48-year-old Sharma, known for his quiet yet calculated political maneuvers, had been working behind the scenes for the past two […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2008,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-news","category-kt-front"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2007"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2009,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2007\/revisions\/2009"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}