Despite hype, Engineer Rashid, Jamaat fail to make an impact in J&K

The AIP’s amusement is peculiarly dismal arsenic it came hardly 4 months aft Rashid, portion successful jail, managed a spectacular triumph successful the Lok Sabha elections from Baramulla – helium had defeated NC person and erstwhile main curate Omar Abdullah and People’s Conference main Sajad Lone. Rashid had past secured a pb successful 15 of the 18 assembly segments that autumn successful the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat. However, passim his run successful the Assembly elections, Rashid stayed nether a unreality of accusations by rival parties that helium had been released connected interim bail and deployed by the BJP to chopped into the votes of the NC-Congress and PDP.

The confederation with the Jamaat didn’t assistance either. Of the 10 candidates backed by the Jamaat-e-Islami, 8 forfeited their deposits. Only its Kulgam candidate, Sayar Ahmad Reshi, enactment up a fight, securing implicit 25,000 votes and yet losing to CPI(M) person Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami by astir 8,000 votes.

In Zainapora, Jamaat-backed campaigner Ajaz Ahmad Mir stood 2nd down National Conference’s Showkat Ahmad Ganaie, losing by astir 13,000 votes. Mir, a PDP rebel, had been backed by the Jamaat aft the enactment failed to get astatine a decision connected its archetypal candidate.

The nonaccomplishment of Jamaat-backed candidates is important for the party’s future, particularly since a large conception wrong was opposed to the thought of taking portion successful the elections and had blamed its eight-member sheet for taking decisions without consulting the cadre.

In Sopore, a Jamaat stronghold that was represented by Syed Ali Shah Geelani 3 times, party-backed campaigner Manzoor Ahmad Kaloo polled conscionable 406 votes. The Sopore spot polled implicit 51,000 votes.

Of the 5 AIP candidates whose managed not to suffer their deposits, 4 of them are governmental turncoats — Yasir Reshi, Nazir Ahmad Khan, Shanty Singh and Raja Waheed.