As counting of votes for the general elections 2024 are underway, the jailed independent candidate Abdul Rashid Sheikh, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, is leading the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency with over 1.7 lakh votes.
Meanwhile, the other notable candidates, National conference’s Omar Abdullah and Jammu & Kashmir People Conference’s Sajad Gani Lone are trailing with nearly 66,000 and 46,000 votes respectively.
The 56-year-old Rashid from Handwara was arrested in August 2019 and later chargesheeted by the NIA under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in October 2019.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), in its chargesheet, had said “the role of Engineer Rashid in the conspiracy” was to “destabilise Kashmir and cause unrest”.
It is crucial to note that this elections the Baramulla parliamentary constituency in Jammu and Kashmir recorded the all-time highest voter turnout of 59 per cent.
The constituency saw 22 candidates contesting, including prominent figures such as National Conference (NC) vice-president and ex-CM Omar Abdullah, People’s Conference president Sajad Gani Lone, Mir Fayaz Ahmed of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Engineer Rashid among others.
Meanwhile, the BJP is ahead of the Congress in Jammu and Udhampur Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir, according to Election Commission trends.
BJP’s Udhampur candidate Union Minister Jitendra Singh is leading by a margin of 21,569 votes, while sitting MP from Jammu, Jugal Kishore Sharma, is ahead by 57,231 votes.
Singh has polled 1,22,251 votes against Congress’s Chaudhary Lal Singh’s 1,00,682 votes. Sharma has polled 2,64,113 votes against Congress’s Raman Bhalla’s 2,06,882 votes.
Talking to PTI at the Jammu counting centre, Sharma said these elections are a big festival. “We will win the elections.”
(With PTI inputs)
