Engineer Rashid: Kashmir’s new leader or BJP’s new ‘pawn’?

Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, has been the talk of the town ahead of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections. The Kashmiri politician, in jail for over five years in a terror funding case, won the Baramulla seat in the Lok Sabha polls with a big margin while he was still incarcerated. He was recently released on bail with his Awami Ittehad Party gearing to contest the polls.  

Rashid’s growing influence in the local politics has caused concern among the mainstream parties of Jammu and Kashmir. Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti have accused him of colluding with the BJP. 

Amid all the media buzz around Rashid, is he also receiving public support? Is Rashid in cahoots with the BJP? What do his supporters think about these allegations?

Watch our ground report.

Small teams can do great things. All it takes is a subscription. Subscribe now and power Newslaundry’s work.  

It will soon be a year since Hamas’ October 7 attack. Contribute to our new NL Sena project to help us bring an exclusive mini-series that examines the multiple dimensions of the Israel-Gaza war from ground zero.