Today is the last day of the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir elections. In fact, the Jammu and Kashmir state assembly elections began on September 18, and the first phase will see voting in eight assembly seats in Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban.
Meanwhile, leaders of various parties have targeted Engineer Rashid, the sitting MP and People’s Ittehad Party candidate. From Mehbooba Mufti to Omar and Farooq Abdullah, Engineers have called Rashid the BJP’s slated candidate.
Former PM says ideology has changed in Kashmir
On Monday, three major leaders of Jammu and Kashmir targeted Engineer Rashid. First, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the ideology of Kashmir is not permanent. The ideology of Kashmiri leaders keeps changing.
Development issues should be given priority: Azad
Azad further said that it is “regrettable that Kashmiri politicians only talk about non-issues”. They should focus on development issues instead of proving who is closer to the BJP. In fact, Ghulam Nabi Azad’s party supported Engineer Rashid in the Lok Sabha elections.
We tried alliances: Mehbooba Mufti
Meanwhile, on the issue of the pre-election alliance between the Awami Ittehad and Jamiat-e-Islami in Jammu and Kashmir, People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti said, “When PAGD (People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration) was formed, I tried that we should go together but unfortunately did not like it. Because the lust for power is too strong and they feel that if they give seats to others, power will go out of control. We should unite so that there is no situation where Delhi fields a large number of independent candidates and splits the votes.”
Rashid’s bail strategy: Farooq
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah also expressed his opposition to Engineer Rashid’s participation in the elections. He said it was a ploy to loot us, divide us and sell out the honour of our mothers and sisters. Farooq Abdullah questioned the release of Engineer Rashid from jail for 20 days. He said that keeping Rashid out for 20 days at the time of elections shows that it was part of the strategy. On the removal of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, Farooq said that we will once again move the Supreme Court against the removal of the article and will continue to do so until the verdict is in our favour.
Why is bail being questioned?
Let us tell you that Engineer Rashid, the current Lok Sabha MP, fought the elections from jail. After winning the elections, he was secretly sworn in as a MP. He has since been in jail. However, he has been granted temporary bail till October 2 during the Jammu and Kashmir elections. The old local political parties in Kashmir are raising questions about the timing of the bail.
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