The entry of former MLA Langate, Er. Rashid in the electoral battle for Baramulla Lok Sabha segment could dent the prospects of Omar Abdullah, especially in the Langate segment, given past voting patterns and current scenario in the seat.
In the district development councils polls held in 2020, Peoples Conference secured lead in Langate segment which was bifurcated into two DDC seats- Qaziabad and Mawar.
In the polls, PC’s both candidates secured 11900 votes in Langate assembly segment, while Rashid’s both candidates jointly polled 10500 votes, indicating a sharp decline in votebank of the latter, which had secured one lakh votes in 2019 LS polls.
In the 2014 LS polls, Rashid had polled around 22000 votes in Baramulla Lok Sabha seat.
According to political analysts, Rashid’s entry into the electoral battle could dent the prospects of the National Conference in Langate. “NC would have been a primary beneficiary of his absence from the electoral battle. His vote could have partially shifted to NC instead of PC because the latter is their main rival in Langate,” they said.
In the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls, NC secured 3571 votes and mere 1315 votes in the Langate assembly segment, signifying decline in the party’s vote bank in the segment.
A look at the performance of the major political parties in Baramulla Lok Sabha segment in 2019 shows that NC’s vote bank declined despite the latter winning the seat.
In the 2019 polls, NC secured 133426 votes against 1.46 lakh votes fetched by it in 2014.
The PDP’s performance in 2019 was disastrous as it could fetch only 53 thousands against 1.75 lakh votes polled in 2014.
However, PC’s votebank saw significant increase as it polled 1. 02 lakh votes against 71 thousand votes in 2014 parliamentary polls.
Engineer Rashid is currently lodged in Tihar jail on UAPA charges.KDC
