PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti congratulates Abdul Rashid, demands release of latter

June 5, 2024

Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and PDP Chief, Mehbooba Mufti, on Wednesday congratulated Abdul Rashid Sheikh, the winner of the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat and urged the government to respect the people’s verdict and called for the release of Engineer Rashid.

“Heartfelt congratulations to Mian Altaf, Aga Ruhullah, Engineer Rashid & Haneefa Jan for winning the parliament elections. Government of India must respect the verdict of the people & release Engineer Rashid,” Mufti said in a post on X.

Who is Abdul Rashid?
Abdul Rashid Sheikh, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, is a former MLA from north Kashmir.

He is currently in jail on terror funding charges. In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Engineer Rashid ran as an independent candidate for the Baramulla seat and defeated Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) vice-president Omar Abdullah. He secured victory with a margin of 204142 votes and received 472481 votes.

In the same election, Jammu and Kashmir JKN and BJP each won 2 seats, while independent candidate Abdul Rashid Sheikh secured one seat.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BJP fielded six candidates in Jammu and Kashmir but did not win any seats in Kashmir.