In what is being considered a major development in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, Baramulla MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid's Awami Ittehad Party on Sunday announced a pre-poll alliance with former leaders of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir .
Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, has been in jail since August 2019 in connection with a terror-funding case being probed by the National Investigation Agency. His political fortunes have been on the rise since he defeated former CM Omar Abdullah by over two lakh votes in the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year.
This move brings focus on the Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI) and its political strategy in the ongoing Assembly elections. The outfit, which was banned in 2019, has so far given support to four Independent candidates in Kulgam, Pulwama, Devsar and Zainapora in South Kashmir. This is a major departure from its past track record as it has stayed away from electoral politics for the past 37 years. In fact during this period, the Jamaat was one of the leading organisations enforcing calls for boycotting elections.
So what is the Jamaat's strategy in these elections? Is it getting popular support? How is it campaigning despite being banned? Are there differences within the Jamaat on contesting elections? And what does its alliance with Engineer Rashid's party mean for the elections?
We will try and answer these questions in this ground report.