The Kashmiri politician is lodged in Tihar Jail under anti-terror laws; he defeated Omar Abdullah by over two lakh votes.
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – Sheikh Abdul Rashid, the incarcerated Kashmiri politician and winner in the Lok Sabha election from Baramulla, has moved a Delhi court requesting bail to attend the oath-taking ceremony.
The founder of the Jammu and Kashmir Awami Ittehad Party, widely known as Engineer Rashid for his past as a construction engineer, defeated the former chief minister of the state, Omar Abdullah, by over 200,000 votes.
Rashid entered a bail plea on 4 June as his victory was announced.
Judge Chander Jit Singh has asked for a response from National Investigative Agency (NIA) in the case.
Rashid, a former two-time MLA from the Langate constituency of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state, is currently lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail under anti-terror laws and has been held since 2019.
He has not been allowed to talk to his family over the phone since January this year, media reports quoted a family member as saying.
Congratulating Rashid, Omar Abdullah posted on X: “I don’t believe his victory will hasten his release from prison nor will the people of North Kashmir get the representation they have a right to but the voters have spoken and in a democracy that’s all that matters.”
Abdul Rashid began his political career in 2008 after quitting his position as a construction engineer. Asrar and Abrar Rashid, his two sons, spearheaded their father’s election campaign. “I am thankful to people who not only supported our campaign but showered their love and converted it into votes as well. Winning or losing doesn’t matter much to us. What matters to me is the love we got from the people,” Abrar was quoted by the media as saying as his father established a winning lead over Omar Abdullah.
