‘Omar Abdullah taking oath will delay the status of J&K’: engineer Rashid | India News – Times of India

Engineer Rashid AIP came a cropper after creating a buzz in the J&K elections. But Rashid told that TOI NC has started on a false note by not listening to his advice which will hurt J&K in getting back stands
What is your adviceto the future CM Omar Abdullah?
I requested him “not to take oath until the state is restored.” Even the Jammu region and the BJP MLAs could not have opposed this stand. Nobody is taking away the MLAs. But Omar said that Engineer is doing the work of BJP. Is the BJP stupid to ask me to create problems for Omar that will bring bad name to the Center? If he had listened to me, we would have achieved statehood in fifteen days. Now I don’t know how long we have to wait. He missed the bus.
Would you now take a maximalist position to entrap Omar’s government?
I will support Omar in all steps he takes for the betterment of people. If I had wanted him to fail, I would have demanded that he seek everything (from the Center) in one day. My agenda is realistic.

You are an elected Member of Parliament, but only on temporary bail?
It is up to the people of India and the Indian government. They should drop the charges against me just like they dropped the case Public safety costs against others. Let them respect the people’s mandate. I drew crowds. When the Prime Minister told the world that people were voting in large numbers in Kashmir, I also played a role in that. Please do not oppose my bail. I took oath under the Constitution and the media is calling me anti-national.
After all the hype, AIP could only win one seat.
My party was denied registration for seven years and then a communal symbol. We had 8-10 symbols for 34 candidates. So I couldn’t send a general message to people. I was released when the scrutiny of two phases of nominations was over. So I couldn’t make a good selection of candidates. I only knew 2-3 candidates out of 34. It was a one-man show.
There was a lot of buzz around you because of your Lok Sabha victory, but you disappeared.
Unfortunately, people only found out about me after my release. But I became an MLA in 2008, I stood with my people. I had 4 lakh followers on social media. Anyway, AIP is the second largest force in Kashmir because we have an MP and an MLA, and a decent vote share in about thirty seats.
Did the allegations of you being a BJP proxy affect your performance?
Here’s a guy who spent 5.5 years in prison, and they’ve created a narrative that fits their politics. The verdict has been delivered and I am satisfied. People will see how Omar Abdullah will take things forward and he has already started taking U-turns. I was a single MLA but kept the entire government and assembly focused on legitimate issues. From 2008 to 2018, I single-handedly forced Omar, Mufti and Mehbooba to respond positively to people’s problems. Let them create perceptions. This is Kashmir. Stay tuned to see what happens in the future.
You won the Baramulla Lok Sabha elections from prison. Did bail hurt you in the parliamentary elections?
No. People never voted for me because they felt sorry for me because I was in prison. It was not a sympathy vote. I also participated in the LS polls in 2019 and lost by 2,7000 votes. It was never a wave of sympathy, but a vote for my unique governance model.