Ramit Mehrotra, Pune
The banned Jamaat-e-Islam and Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid’s Awami Ittehad Party have formed a strategic alliance just two days before the first phase of polls in Jammu and Kashmir. Jamaat is a banned organisation, and the Centre has authorised the outfit to field candidates.
AIP representative said that the alliance endeavours to have a pounding victory in the upcoming assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir and highlight the issues of Jammu and Kashmir. The alliance was formed during a meeting with AIP Chief Engineer Rashid and Jamaat-e-Islam leader Ghulam Qadir Wani. The crux of the meeting was the current political climate in Jammu and Kashmir. Both political entities have common interests in working for public welfare. After a prolonged discussion, it was decided that AIP would support JeI-backed candidates in Kulgam and Pulwama. JeI would also show support for AIP candidates across Kashmir.
Jammu and Kashmir will elect their next governing representative in three phases on September 18, September 25 and October 1. The votes will be counted on October 8, alongside Haryana. This will be the first time the region is going to polls since the abrogation of Article 370, on August 5, 2019.
Jamaat has fielded nine candidates across Kashmir Valley and declared it will support Ajaz Ahmad Mir, an independent candidate from Zainapora. He decided to contest alone after he was denied a ticket by his former affiliated party, PDP. Rashid’s AIP will deploy 34 candidates in the Valley and Jammu. Since AIP is registered as a political party in the Election Commission, the candidates will run as Independents.
In the areas where AIP and JeI have both fielded candidates, the alliance has agreed to a friendly contest, especially in constituencies like Langate, Devsar and Zainapora. There will be unwavering support by both parties in other constituencies to show a unified approach in elections.
The sudden tie-up is a shift in the poll spectrum in J&K but is unlikely to have a major effect. Jamaat-e-Islam has been surviving a credibility crisis and the question of leadership in the party, post the division of the party in 2004, when Syed Ali Shah Geelani left the party to form Tehreek-E-Huriyat.
In 2019, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs declared Jamaat-e-Islam an illegal association for five years, for activities biased towards internal security and public order. This year, in February, the Ministry extended the ban to five more years.