Engineer Rashid’s Awami Ittehad Party Fails To Repeat LS Success In J&K Polls

Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) had fielded 44 candidates. Even well-known people lost the polls, such as businessman Sheikh Ashiq Hussain and AIP spokesperson Firdous Baba.

File photo of Sheikh Abdul Rashid alias Engineer Rashid.

Source : PTI

The Awami Ittehad Party led by Baramulla MP, Sheikh Abdul Rashid alias Engineer Rashid, failed to make a significant impact in the 2024 Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections. Despite defeating former chief minister Omar Abdullah in the 2024 parliamentary elections while imprisoned in Tihar Jail on terror funding charges, Rashid struggled to replicate this success in the assembly polls.

According to a report by PTI, after being convicted of terror funding while detained in Tihar Jail, Rashid made an effort to prove that his victory in the parliamentary election was not a coincidence. However, he failed to make any impact to attract and win the trust of the voters in the first assembly polls after the abrogation of Article 370.

He received interim bail on September 10 to campaign until October 2. Later, his bail was extended allowing him to actively participate in the electoral process. The majority of his party's candidates lost their deposits in spite of his efforts, which was a strong sign of the electorate's disdain.

The Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) had fielded 44 candidates. Even well-known people lost the polls, such as businessman Sheikh Ashiq Hussain and AIP spokesperson Firdous Baba. However, the brother of Rashid, Khursheed Ahmad Sheikh, managed to win the seat after contesting from Langate.

Rashid's Associations With Peoples’ Conference

Before transitioning to mainstream politics, Rashid had separatist leanings and was associated with the Peoples’ Conference, where he advocated for 'Azadi'. After holding a diploma degree in civil engineering, he worked for over a decade in the Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction Corporation before coming to politics.

He entered politics in 2008 as an independent candidate and won from the Langate constituency again in 2014. BJP legislators physically attacked him in 2015 for hosting a party that allegedly served beef, and BJP workers attacked him with ink when he made comments on the lynching of a Kashmiri truck driver, among other controversial incidents during his stint as an MLA.