Srinagar: The Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) on Friday decided to continue Sheikh Abdul Rashid as a Member of Parliament after he had expressed his intent to quit. The AIP conducted a secret ballot poll on the question of whether the Baramulla MP, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, should continue or not in the Parliament.
Announcing the result of the secret ballot, party observer Pervez Bhat said a total of 773 votes were cast and a majority of the party members favoured the continuation of Rashid as the MP. “We held a secret ballot. 773 votes were cast. The poll had three options: continuation of Rashid as MP, favouring his resignation, and NOTA,” Bhat said. He said 746 votes were polled against the idea of Rashid’s resignation, while 24 votes were cast in support of his intent to resign. Three votes were cast in favour of NOTA.
Bhat said the majority of voters want him to continue as an MP. “They are satisfied with his work,” he added. The secret ballot was held after the party conducted deliberations over the last two days in the wake of Rashid’s intent to resign as an MP, as he continues to remain in custody. He had announced it at the funeral of his father last month after getting bail.
The MP from north Kashmir’s Baramulla, who defeated Omar Abdullah and Sajad Lone in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, is facing trial in the terror funding case with allegations that he funded separatists and terror groups in Jammu and Kashmir. He has been lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail since 2019 after the NIA arrested him in the 2017 terror-funding case.
