Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir): Buoyed by its recent Lok Sabha election 2024 victory from Kashmir’s Baramulla seat where its jailed president Engineer Rashid defeated former chief minister Omar Abdullah, Awami Ittehad Party is now repeating the same experiment in the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections hoping to throw up a second surprise. Jailed Rashid could well turn out to be the kingmaker in the much anticipated Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls provided the voters connect to the party this time.
With the AIP not registered with the Election Commission of India, the party candidates are contesting independently in the upcoming state elections. AIP has so far announced 22 candidates in the 22 assembly constituencies and it will field a total 52 candidates in Kashmir and Jammu seats.
Abdul Rashid Sheikh aka Engineer Rashid stunned Omar Abdullah by defeating him with a formidable margin of more than 2 lakh votes in the parliamentary elections on Baramulla seat.
With Rashid himself in Tihar jail under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, his college going sons Abrar Rashid and Asrar ran his campaign across the Baramulla, urging voters to vote for their incarcerated father, shouting 'tihar ka badla jail se'.
AIP has fielded candidates in Pulwama and Anantnag seats which were considered militancy hotbeds till 2019. Electorally, the seats were known as PDP's bastions until 2014 when PDP stitched an alliance with the BJP.
In south Kashmir's Pulwama which was known as a militant hotbed, Abrar Rashid, the eldest son of Engineer held two roadshows for AIP candidate Altaf Bhat. ETV Bharat visited one such roadshow in the south Kashmir region to witness the jailed politician's son's appeal before the masses. Shouting slogans, 'cooker cooker, pressure cooker', the election symbol of Rashid in Lok Sabha polls, a crowd of nearly hundred persons listened to Abrar as he campaigned for Bhat in Kareemabad and Zadoora villages.
Kareemabad of the Pulwama district was known as a volatile and pro-militant village until 2019 where the administration and security agencies dared not to enter till 2016.
In Zadoora and the villages in its vicinity, Bhat can attract voters for his social activism and the local factor. Bhat is the brother of jailed Hurriyat leader Bashir Ahmad Bhat (Peer Saifullah), who is associated with Hurriyat Conference of late separatist veteran Syed Ali Geelani.
A government employee who didn't want to be named said Engineer Rashid’s 'wave' factor won't work in south Kashmir's seats.
"Voters will prefer local faces and local candidates in assembly elections as they relate to them in terms of personal connection and local factor," he said.
Abrar said he will campaign for his candidates in south Kashmir seats and hoped that his father's factor will work in the elections.
"We are getting a good response and our candidates are working on the ground. I hope the voters of south and central Kashmir will support our candidates,"Abrar told ETV Bharat.
"We are not sure as to how many seats we will win as we have not done any analysis yet. Engineer Rashid was in the assembly and now we have to send 50 Engineer Rashid's (legislators) in the assembly for which we are working very hard," he added.
AIP Candidates
Among the candidates, the AIP has fielded Tawseef Nisar as from Anantnag, Aqib Mushtaq from Anantnag West, Suhail Bhat from Devsar, Kulgam, Mohammad Arif Dar for DH Pora, Kulgam and Gujjar activist Choudhary Anwar Pahmda from Kokernag (ST) in the first phase of polls which are scheduled on September 18.
For the second phase the candidates include prominent trader and former KCC&I president Sheikh Ashiq from Ganderbal, advocate Raja Ashraf Ali Khan from Kangan, Prince Parvez from Bandipora (Parvez is the founding member of AIP) and former Congress MLA Shoaib Lone from Baramulla.
Ashiq will be pitted against former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and NC vice president Omar Abdullah in Ganderbal, a traditionally NC bastion. Qadri will be fielded against NC’s former woman legislator Shameema Firdous.
"Here the contest is between NC and PDP. These are the traditional parties in south Kashmir whose candidates are known to people. The alliance factor will work for NC-Congress in the elections, not for Engineer Rashid," Yaqoob Ali, a resident of Shopian told ETV Bharat.
Youth who were emotionally driven towards Abrar Rashid during the parliament elections and outnumbered adults in his rallies have a different opinion for the assembly elections.
"No emotional votes now. At that time (in parliament elections) people supported him because his son appealed to them to vote for his father so that he will be released from jail; but that didn't happen as people understood that coming out of jail is a legal battle. Now it's the matter of the whole Jammu and Kashmir, we don't want a fractured mandate here," Umar Ahmad, a young man told ETV Bharat in Anantnag.
Organisational Structure Of AIP
Ishtiyaq Qadri who is the chairman of the political affairs committee of the AIP said that they are fielding candidates on 52 seats in Kashmir and Jammu.
Qadri, who is the former trade union leader, said that AIP “expects the same performances across Kashmir which they showed in Baramulla parliamentary seat.”
“Our opposing parties have nothing to speak against him except labeling him BJP’s agent. Their insecurity makes them to level such accusations,” Qadri said, when asked that the opposition parties are suspecting targeting AIP.
Surprisingly, the party has not fielded any candidate for Bibehara-Srigufwara where PDP has fielded Iltija Mufti, daughter of former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti. In this seat, only NC, PDP and BJP have fielded their candidates, while no independent is contesting on this seat.
“We had nominated Sarwar Mufti, cousin of PDP president Mehbooba Mufti for Bijbehara-Srigufwara seat. But at the last moment Sarwar joined PDP and we have no other immediate option,” AIP chief spokesman Inam Un Nabi told ETV Bharat.
Founded in 2013 by Engineer Rashid, Awami Itehad Party (AIP) was joined by dozens of young social an aspiring activists, who have since left the party, as they didn’t find any political “future the rag-tag outfit”.
A former member of the AIP told ETV Bharat that he didn’t found any organisational structure of the party, which was riding on emotions when it was founded and is repeating the same experiment today.
The former member said that AIP, as of now, is a "rag-tag" group of few persons including Prince Parvez, Ishtiyaq Qadri, Firdous Baba, who run its affairs. Recently, its former activity Inam un Nabi returned as chief spokesperson of the party.
The former member said that AIP as of now is a "rag-tag" group of few persons including Prince Parvez, Ishtiyaq Qadri, Firdous Baba who manage its affairs with reins in the hands of Engineer's brother Khurshid Sheikh and Abrar being used as a "pied-piper", its former activitst Inam u Nabi returned as chief spokesperson of the party
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