Langate (Handwara): Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) president Er. Rashid surprised everyone in the recent Lok Sabha polls by winning the prestigious Baramulla Lok Sabha seat. Three months down the line, AIP is facing a tough challenge on Rashid’s home turf due to fast changing electoral dynamics here.
Riding on a sympathy wave, Rashid, who was then lodged in a Tihar jail, won the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Baramulla parliamentary segment. In his native segment of Langate, Rashid took a massive lead over his nearest political rival, Peoples Conference.
With AIP being accused of promoting dynasticism by fielding Rashid’s brother, winning Langate wouldn’t be an easy task for it.
Rashid’s brother, Khursheed Ahmed Sheikh is locked in a contest with Irfan Panditpuri of Peoples Conference, who won 2020 district development council (DDC) polls by defeating AIP.
The last-minute entry of Jamaat-e-Islamia’s Kalimullah and independent candidate, Junaid Mir has added spice to the direct contest between Rashid’s brother and Irfan Panditpuri.
Both Kalimullah and Junaid Mir are also gaining traction in the segment which has more than 1.20 lakh votes.
The INDIA bloc has fielded Irshad Ahmad Ganie in the segment after the seat was allotted to Congress.
While Congress has less presence in Langate, National Conference is strong in few pockets of the constituency.
According to political observers, National Conference would play a crucial role in deciding outcome of the seat.
“It would be interesting to watch whether NC cadres would vote for the INDIA bloc candidate or shift their votes to PC or AIP,” they said, adding that Langate wouldn’t be a cakewalk for anyone given voting patterns in the past assembly elections
