SRINAGAR: Peoples Conference Chairman and MLA Handwara, Sajad Gani Lone, on Saturday accused the National Conference (NC) of “killing merit” through its reservation policies and “gifting” votes to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recent Rajya Sabha elections.
Addressing a press conference in Srinagar, Lone said his party will launch a campaign against what he called an “anti-merit” reservation system. “Open merit has been buried. We will go door to door, even protest or go on hunger strike if needed,” he said.
Launching a scathing attack on NC, Lone claimed seven of its MLAs “directly gifted their votes to the BJP,” calling the election a “fixed match.” “This is the same party that accuses others of siding with the BJP, yet it is now sitting in its lap,” he alleged.
Lone said NC denied Congress a winnable Rajya Sabha seat, accusing Omar Abdullah of deliberately offering Congress a losing constituency. “A national party like Congress should have been prioritized,” he added.
He also criticised NC’s past Rajya Sabha MPs for “failing to deliver anything substantial” in Delhi and accused the party of maintaining a “submissive” attitude toward the Centre.
On Article 370, Lone alleged “midnight meetings” between NC and Delhi before its abrogation, terming them acts of betrayal. “People of Jammu and Kashmir must wake up to this long-standing deception,” he said.
Expressing relief for staying away from the voting process, Lone added, “I thank Almighty Allah I abstained, otherwise fingers would have been pointed at me.”
