Lok Sabha MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, has claimed that he won the Lok Sabha elections by a bigger margin than Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “I won the Lok Sabha elections from Baramulla by a bigger margin than PM Modi’s Varanasi seat,” Rashid said at a ‘Panchayat Aaj Tak’ event. This was his first interview after he was released on interim bail from Tihar jail ahead of the Jammu and Kashmir elections.
Rashid This statement came when he was asked if he could face BJP in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections. Engineer Rashid won the Lok Sabha elections from Baramulla by a margin of 2,04,142 votes, while PM Modi won from Varanasi by a margin of 1,52,513 votes. Talking about his victory in the Lok Sabha elections, Rashid said, “The votes cast in my favor were a referendum against what happened on August 5, 2019.” It is noteworthy that Article 370 was removed in Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019.
The Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) chief was released on interim bail from Tihar Jail on Wednesday. He was in jail in a terror funding case. After his release, the National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party alleged that Rashid has been released by the BJP-led central government to cut the opposition vote in the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections.
However, in his first statement after his release, Rashid hit out at PM Modi and said he would counter the prime minister’s vision of ‘Naya Kashmir’.
He also accused National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti of “ruining” Kashmir and said he would continue his fight for the people of the region. Taking a dig at Omar Abdullah, whom Rashid defeated in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Baramulla MP said he was “dying in Tihar for five years” while the NC leader was “hiding in London.”
Follow us On Social Media Google News and Twitter/X