The election on north Kashmir's Baramulla Lok Sabha took an interesting twist on Thursday when the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) of Ghulam Nabi Azad announced unconditional support to jailed leader Engineer Abdul Rashid for this parliamentary segment.
In a press conference, the senior leader of the DPAP and former minister Taj Mohi-ud-Din, who is a former MLA from north Kashmir's Uri assembly constituency said that their party has decided to support jailed Engineer Rashid after his son Abrar Rashid approached DPAP chairman Ghulam Nabi Azad to seek his support for his father.
"Engineer Rashid is innocent, and people want him out of jail. He has always fought for the people's cause, so this is injustice", the former minister said.
He further mentioned that after his son Abrar Rashid's appeal to their chairman Ghulam Nabi Azad, they have decided to extend their support to Engineer Rashid and appeal to voters to ensure his victory.
"I don't know why Shoaib Lone has resigned, but we as a party have backed Engineer Rashid from day one. I even spoke with his son. Our workers have been campaigning from the start," Taj stated.
Earlier DPAP's leader resigned from the party to support Er. Rashid
Earlier Ghulam Nabi Azad's party received a severe setback in Kashmir as former Member Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Sangrama Shoiab Lone resigned from the party.
After resigning from the DPAP Shoiab Lone, who has a strong mass base in Sangrama and adjoining localities, announced support for Engineer Rashid in the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency.
Shoaib Lone, who previously won the Assembly election from Sangrama, has announced his support for jailed politician Engineer Rashid, who is contesting elections from the Baramulla Parliamentary Constituency.
After the resignation of Shoiab Lone Ghulam Nabi Azad, clarified the party's stance on the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat.
Azad mentioned that his party leaders view Engineer Rashid as the best choice for the constituency and that he did not prevent them from supporting him.
Jailed leader's nomination paper filed for Baramulla seat
On April 29, the jailed leader of the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) and former MLA Engineer Rashid filed his nomination for the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat in north Kashmir.
On behalf of Engineer Rashid, his nomination papers were filed by AIP spokesperson Firdous Baba.
The party has also nominated a covering candidate, Prince Parvez, who is also the party's general secretary, to handle formalities in Engineer Rashid's absence.
In 2019 Engineer Rashid had contested the election on the same Baramulla Lok Sabha seat. He secured 1.01 lakh votes, trailing the National Conference (NC) winner, Mohammad Akbar Lone, by a mere 31,192 votes and falling short of the Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference (JKPC) candidate by only 827 votes.
Rashid was arrested in August 2019 by the National Investigation Agency in a case of terror funding.
The arrest came soon after New Delhi scrapped Jammu and Kashmir's special status and statehood on August 5, 2019. Since then, Rashid has been in Delhi's Tihar jail.
Omar Abdullah and Sajad Lone are contesting on Baramulla seat
Rashid's unexpected entry has, in many ways, electrified the contest for Baramulla, which was till last month seen as a fight between National Conference Vice-President Omar Abdullah and Sajad Gani Lone of Peoples Conference.
Supporters of Engineer Rashid under the leadership of his son Abrar Rashid have started an aggressive campaign on this seat.
