Independent Haneefa Jan wrest Ladakh LS seat from BJP
Srinagar, June 4:
Lodged in Tihar jail since 2019 in a terror funding case, Abdul Rashid Sheikh aka Engineer Rashid has turned out to be a phenomenon in Kashmir politics post 2019.
On Tuesday, Engineer Rashid proved a giant killer after he defeated former chief minister Omar Abdullah and separatist turned mainstream politician Sajad Lone from Baramulla Lok Sabha seat. Engineer won the seat by defeating his nearest rival Omar Abdullah with a margin of over two lakh votes.
With Rashid in jail, his two sons Abrar, 23, and Asrar, 21, lead the poll campaign of their father. During the poll campaign Rashid’s supporters rallied with slogans like, “Tihar ka badla vote sey lenge (We will avenge his Tihar detention with our votes).”
“Now after the victory of my father, I know that the people of Kashmir are now behind me,” Abrar said after Engineer Rashid won the polls.
A resident of Langate Handwara in frontier Kupwara district, Rashid’s political career began in 2008, when he quit his job as an engineer with the Jammu and Kashmir government to contest the Assembly elections as an independent candidate. Before joining politics, Engineer Rashid was seen as a champion of human rights in his area. Rashid was a close aide of Sajad Lone’s father Abdul Gani Lone.
From jail engineer
Engineer Rashid rose to fame in his native area of the frontier Kupwara district after in early 2000 he raised his voice against the alleged beegar (forced labour) of the locals by the army.
Rashid, a two-time MLA, was the first mainstream politician arrested after the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. He was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Rashid narrowly missed victory, securing 1.02 lakh votes.
meanwhile, In a setback to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Ladakh, a rebel National Conference leader and Independent candidate Mohammad Haneefa Jan won the Parliamentary constituency seat defeating his nearest Congress candidate Tsering Namgyal by a margin of 27,862 votes.
This was the first Lok Sabha election after Ladakh was carved out as a separate Union territory in August 2019.
According to the officials Haneefa, defeated his nearest rival Tsering Namgyal of Congress and Tashi Gyalson of BJP in a triangular contest. Haneefa wrested the seat from BJP.
The winning candidate Haneefa bagged 65,259 votes, while his nearest rival Namgyal bagged 37,397 votes. BJP’s Gyalson stood third and secured 31,956 votes.
BJP’s Tashi Gyalson, who is also the chief executive councillor of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (Leh), had replaced the sitting MP Jamyang Namgyal.
In both 2014 and 2019 elections, the BJP had won the Ladakh seat, then a part of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Over the last two years, Ladakh witnessed a series of protests over the demands of Statehood and constitutional guarantees under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah expressed happiness for Haneefa.
“@HajiHanifa I’m really very happy for you today. A few months ago you tasted defeat in the hill council elections & now you will represent Ladakh, especially the marginalised people of Kargil in the Lok Sabha. Your victory cost @JKNC_ it’s Kargil unit but it was well worth the price”, Omar said in a Tweet on X.
Omar was referring to mass resignations of its Kargil unit after the party directed its cadre to support Congress candidate in Ladakh.
