New Delhi

The trends in the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections in J&K have thrown a major upset: Omar Abdullah, leader of the National Conference and two-time chief minister, is headed for a massive defeat at the hands of an independent candidate, who has been in Delhi’s Tihar jail, pending his trial under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

Engineer Rashid, a former Member of the Legislative Assembly contested from the Baramulla seat as an independent from Tihar Jail and is all set to win with a landslide margin. Omar Abdullah conceded his defeat even when the counting was going on through this post on X:

I think it’s time to accept the inevitable. Congratulations to Engineer Rashid for his victory in North Kashmir. I don’t believe his victory will hasten his release from prison nor will the people of North Kashmir get the representation they have a right to but the voters have…

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) June 4, 2024

Engineer Rashid whose real name is Sheikh Abdul Rashid, has been around as an independent politician since the eruption of armed militancy. He was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) two days before the revocation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, and later booked under several sections of the UAPA.

Omar had opted for Baramulla as a safer seat than Srinagar, where the party could face backlash from the public.

On the other hand, another former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who too hails from a political family, was defeated from the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency by the National Conference candidate Mian Altaf. She too conceded her defeat.

She too conceded defeat through her post on X:

You worked very hard & put up a great fight. I know you have a long way to go & will succeed Inshallah. God bless ☺️ https://t.co/It14r7Ju8b

— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) June 4, 2024

 Mr. Rashid once applied for bail immediately after his detention. It was rejected by the session court. However, Mr. Rashid decided not to challenge the order. 

An engineer by profession, Mr. Rashid resigned from the government services in 2008, fought against forced labour of locals by security forces, and contested Assembly elections to represent the Langate constituency in north Kashmir.

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BJP's Dr Jitendra Singh and Jugal Kishore are leading with substantive margins in the Udhampur-Doda and Jammu constituencies respectively while Rahullah Mehdi and Mian Altaf Ahmad were leading in the other two Kashmir constituencies till the filing of the report.