Jailed MP Er Rashids party to field own candidate in J&K RS polls, refuses to support BJP or NC

SRINAGAR: In a significant political move, the Awami Ittihad Party (AIP) of jailed Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) MP Er Rashid has announced that itwont support either the opposition BJP or the ruling National Conference (NC) but instead will field its own candidate in the forthcoming Rajya Sabha polls inthe J&K Union Territory. The AIP has a lone legislator in the 90-member J&K Assembly. Talking to TNIE, AIP chief spokesman Inam-un-Nabi said the party, after thorough discussion, has decided not to support the BJP or NC in the RS polls. The polls for four vacant RS seats in J&K would be held on October 24. Inam said that had the party abstained from voting, it wouldprovideadvantage to BJP, which is our enemy. Similarly, since the NC government is a failure, we dont want to vote for it. The party, he said, has decided to field its own candidate in the RS polls. Our partys Parliamentary Affairs Committee will discuss modalities in this regard. We will approach the Assembly Secretariat to ascertain necessary procedures for fielding our own candidate, Inam said. We dont have a choice either to abstain or cast a vote for NC. In such a situation, we will field our own candidate and even if we get only one vote that is sufficient for us, he said, adding, Our decision reflects a commitment to principled politics. Er Rashid, who is the Lok Sabha MP from the Baramulla seat in north Kashmir, is currently lodged in Delhis Tihar Jail under the UAPA since 2019. Despite his incarceration, Rashids political influence continues to resonate in parts of north Kashmir. He won the parliamentary election from Baramulla LS seat last year despite being in jail. He defeated two political heavyweights including Omar Abdullah of NC and Sajjad Gani Lone, former minister and Peoples Conference chairman. Political observers term AIPs move as symbolic and significant. With just a single MLA, the AIP has no chance of securing a Rajya Sabha seat but by fielding its own candidate, the party signals its intent to remain equidistant from both the National Conference and the BJP, observers suggest. The Rajya Sabha election is a high-stakes contest for both the NC and the opposition BJP, which is eyeing to strengthen its position in the Union Territory. The voting for the four vacant RS seats would be held on October 24 between 9 am and 4 pm, and counting of votes would take place on the same day at 5 pm. The fourRS seats from J&K had fallen vacant in February 2021 after the end of the terms of PDP MPs Mir Mohammad Fayaz and Nazir Ahmed Laway, BJP MP Shamsher Singh, and former Congress MP Ghulam Nabi Azad. After the abrogation of Article 370 and the downgrading and bifurcation of the erstwhile J&K state into two Union Territories, the election for the 90-member J&K Assembly was held last year.