Engineer Rashid the talk of the town, tinged with a doubt: what is he to BJP?

“The BJP released Engineer to cut into the votes of the National Conference and the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party). I think that was their game plan. But Engineer saab has now gained a huge fan following of his own. He is honest … don’t know what will happen in the future,” he says.

Cut to Bijbehara, a neighbouring constituency considered a stronghold of the PDP from where former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s daughter Iltija is making her electoral debut. Bijbehara in Anantnag district is the home constituency of the Muftis. A group of PDP workers, sitting and sipping tea with a CRPF jawan from Bihar at a polling booth in Marhama village, argues that Rashid’s popularity is confined to north Kashmir. The CRPF jawan disagrees. He says there is much talk about him in Ganderbal and Srinagar as well.

At the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) in Srinagar, a conversation with a group of students turns to Engineer Rashid. They, like Firdaus, believe he is honest and what he says makes sense. Some of them, in fact, blame the Abdullahs and Muftis for all that has gone wrong in Kashmir over the decades. However, even they are not sure whether they will vote for the AIP.

In June, Rashid stunned the state by defeating former CM Omar Abdullah from Baramulla in the Lok Sabha elections by more than two lakh votes (J&K Peoples Conference leader Sajad Lone was also in the fray). As a result, the 57-year-old invariably is part of almost every conversation about politics and elections in the Kashmir Valley. But the impressions are contradictory, from an honest and rebel politician to a vote-cutter the BJP has deployed to damage Kashmiri regional parties.

Even those who are impressed by Rashid’s political rhetoric are not sure of the “real story” behind his sudden release from jail on parole. The NC and the PDP have already dubbed him as an “agent of Delhi”. Rashid argues he has shown the courage to stand up to Modi and that is the reason that he continues to be in jail — since 2019 in a case of alleged terror funding — while the others who were under house arrest after the abrogation of Article 370 were set free.

Rashid and his party’s political fortunes lie somewhere between these carefully crafted narratives, both pro and against. A lot will depend on his choice of candidates as well. His tactical understanding with the banned Jamaat-e-Islami is another factor. “What he says makes a lot of sense. He is not corrupt like the others. He is still in jail, which shows that he has not cut a deal with Modi (government) like the others. At least we don’t know, we haven’t,” says Sajjad, a student at SKUAST. Srinagar falls in central Kashmir and will vote in the second phase on September 25.

“It is creditable that he won Lok Sabha from jail, defeating Omar Abdullah. But the sentiment was different then. There was a silent campaign in Baramulla that he could die in jail, or he could be hanged, and that electing him as an MP could set him free. It was an emotional appeal. Given that so many of our people are in jail that pitch worked. But now, he gets bail and is campaigning across the state. Isn’t that odd? There is some deal,” says a PDP worker.

Across south Kashmir and Srinagar, there is an underlying sentiment in favour of the restoration of Article 370 and the release of all those in jail. Rashid may be hoping to play on the second issue but it is not just AIP that has voiced that demand. The AIP in its manifesto has pledged to strive for the unconditional release of all the detainees but so has the NC, which has sought amnesty for all political prisoners. The NC and the PDP have also spoken in favour of the restoration of Article 370 and the repeal of the Public Security Act (PSA).

Ahead of the first phase, Rashid and his young son Abrar travelled to several constituencies in south Kashmir, which went to the polls, addressing rallies and public meetings seeking support for the AIP’s candidates. The AIP has fielded 34 candidates, all in the Kashmir Valley barring one.