AIP struggles post-2024 LS win

Srinagar : The Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) surprised everyone in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections when its founder, Engineer Rashid, won the Baramulla seat by defeating two stalwarts of Kashmir politics. Barely one and a half years down the line , the party is now in turmoil, with leaders quitting one after another.

The party, which had positioned itself as an alternative in Kashmir politics following its spectacular 2024 Lok Sabha win, is imploding, with its Political Affairs Committee (PAC) chairman Ishtiyaq Qadri publicly announcing his resignation.

“I am not only resigning from the position of AIP’s Political Affairs Committee chairman but also from its basic membership,” Qadri said in a video message, as per the news agency.

He said they fought the 2024 Lok Sabha elections to secure the release of political prisoners but failed to get even one released.

“I and my colleagues decided that we would field AIP’s incarcerated supremo, Engineer Rashid, and agreed to have a single-point agenda: the release of innocent political detainees, including Engineer Rashid. Parents, relatives, and neighbours of detainees believed that we had an agenda of truth and voted for us in large numbers, which led to Engineer Rashid becoming an MP.

However, despite his victory, we did not manage to secure the release of even one political prisoner,” he said.

Before Qadri, several other leaders had already left the party. Former MLC Yasir Reshi (contesting candidate from Sonawari), DDC member Raja Waheed (contesting candidate from Shopian), DDC member Harbaksh Singh (contesting candidate from Tral), advocate Mursaleen (contesting candidate from Sopore), and several other middle-rung leaders have left the party.

The exits began soon after its poor performance in the 2024 Assembly polls, when it managed to win only one seat—and that too by a narrow margin.

In the recent Budgam by-polls, the party also performed poorly, losing its deposit and securing just 470 votes more than the BJP candidate. Former DDC chairperson Nazir Ahmad Khan, who was the party’s candidate for Budgam, polled 3,089 votes, while BJP candidate Aga Syed Mohsin secured 2,619 votes.

The AIP, however, downplayed these resignations. “These departures pose no threat, as the grassroots cadre and early loyalists remain firmly committed to jailed chief Engineer Rashid’s vision,” AIP chief spokesman Inam-un-Nabi told.

He said they had received no formal resignation from Qadri, whom he described as a “fatherly figure.” “The departures won’t weaken AIP,” he added—(KNO)