Baramulla Lok Sabha Elections 2024: The contest in North Kashmir's Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency has become more intense after the entry of jailed independent candidate Engineer Rashid in the race. Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah, Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference (JKPC) chief Sajjad Gani Lone, and Jammu and Kashmir's Peoples' Democratic Party's (JKPDP) Fayaz Ahmad Mir were the main contenders until now. Polling in Baramulla will take place in the fifth phase on May 20.
Who is Engineer Rashid?
Engineer Rashid or Sheikh Abdul Rashid is a two-time MLA from the Langate Assembly constituency in J-K. Rashid contested from Langate as an independent candidate in 2008, 2014 and won the election.
In 2014 and 2019, Rashid also contested the Lok Sahba election from Baramulla. In 2019, he got 1,02,168 (22.43 per cent) votes while in 2014, he bagged just 22,090 (4.74 per cent) votes.
Rashid began his political career in 2008 when he quit his job as a construction engineer and contested the Assembly election from the Langate seat.
Rashid lodged in Tihar jail under UAPA
Engineer Rashid at present is serving imprisonment under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act -- UAPA -- charges in Tihar jail. Rashid will be contesting the upcoming polls from behind the bars.
Rashid was arrested in 2019 by the National Investigation Agency under UAPA. In the upcoming polls, Rashid will contest the election on Awami Ittehad Party's ticket.
Awami Ittehad Party spokesperson Firdous Baba informed that the party has decided to field Engineer Rashid as its candidate from the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency.
Controversies surrounding Engineer Rashid
In 2005, Engineer Rashid was arrested by Special Operations Group (SOG) in Srinagar for supporting terrorists under anti-national activities and jailed for 17 days. However, all charges against him were dropped by Chief Judicial Magistrate Srinagar on humanitarian grounds.
Attacks
In 2015, Engineer Rashid was assaulted by BJP MLAs inside the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly for hosting a party in which he served beef on the lawns of the government circuit to protest against the Centre's beef ban.
Baramulla Lok Sabha Election 2019
In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, National Conference's Mohammad Akbar Lone, who received 133,426 votes -- 29.29 per cent defeated JKPC's Raja Aijaz Ali who grabbed 1,03,193 -- 22.65 per cent -- by a margin of 30,233 votes.
Baramulla Lok Sabha Election 2014
In 2014, JKPDP's Muzaffar Hussain Baig defeated JKNC's Sharifuddin Shariq by a margin of 29,219 votes. Baig received a total of 175,277 -- 37.61 per cent -- votes while Shariq got 1,46,058 -- 31.34 per cent votes.
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