Awami Ittehad Party chief Engineer Rashid on Tuesday dismissed allegations about aligning with the Bharatiya Janata Party and asserted that the only aim of his party was to restore peace in Kashmir.
“Why will I join hands with the BJP? Power is a very small thing for me. I was an independent MLA, and I would have joined any party. If power had been my priority, I would have joined hands with PM Modi.
“Many people have been killed in Kashmir. My major concern is to make sure that these killings must stop,” he said.
His priority now, Rashid said, was to see how the leadership would work after getting the mandate of the public. “Will they, like the traditional parties PDP, JKNC, INC, and BJP, after winning elections travel around like VVIPs… Kashmir has to go beyond that… Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) will aim for permanent peace in Kashmir.”
The high voter turnout during the Assembly elections in the UT, he claimed, was due to the ongoing repression of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and not for revoking Article 370 as the Central government had said.
He said the people of Kashmir wanted change and were eager to express their wishes through the democratic process.
“The voting percentage has increased because people have been victims of state repression... the voice of the people has been suppressed since the PDP came to power in 2014. People want to express their feelings and they want change because they have understood that they can achieve something only through democratic means.
“Violence has no place in society. The people of Kashmir have always believed in democracy. They also wanted a democratic solution to the Kashmir issue. I hope an era of reconciliation will begin after the voting,” Rashid told reporters.
Rashid gained massive popularity after defeating Omar Abdullah during the recently concluded 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
His party has fielded 34 candidates in the 2024 Assembly elections, with his younger brother, Khurshid Ahmad Sheikh, contesting from the Langate seat in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district..
Polling is currently underway across 40 assembly segments of Jammu and Kashmir, with voting beginning at 7 am.
It will conclude at 6 pm. Results will be declared on October 8.
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