Srinagar: Ending a 40-year election boycott, Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) activists held a big election rally in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Sunday in support of the Independent candidate running against M.Y. Tarigami of the CPI.
The National Conference (NC) and Congress pre-poll coalition has not fielded a candidate for the Kulgam Assembly constituency in support of Tarigami.
After 1987, JeI supporters demonstrated tremendous support for the Independent candidate, Sayar Ahmad Reshi, an ex-member of the Jamaat.
The event took place in the Bugam area of Kulgam district, where the Jamaat-backed candidate spoke about Kashmiris, Kashmir, and political prisoners.
Hundreds of people turned up for the socio-religious society’s first rally in 40 years. The society has avoided voting in J&K elections until now.
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The massive turnout in the Lok Sabha election by those who believe in the country’s democracy has prompted the JeI to re-enter the political system. This is significant because the JeI, which the Ministry of Home Affairs outlawed in 2019, has a strong cadre base and its absence from the electoral arena has reduced the elections to a struggle between two regional parties, the NC and the PDP.
Addressing the crowd, Sayar Ahmad Reshi stated, “We are here to say that the vacuum created by regional political parties needs to be filled. The sea of people is our strength. Fingers will be raised against us, and we will be criticised, but this is reality.”
The JeI has so far fielded former members in south Kashmir regions, and the movement plans to run candidates in central and north Kashmir Assembly areas as well. This move is expected to further shake up the political landscape in Jammu and Kashmir.
The re-entry of JeI into electoral politics is sure to alter the dynamics for the major regional parties, as its absence and solid cadre base in the Valley reduced the elections to a struggle between two regional parties, the NC and the PDP.
J&K will vote on September 28, September 25, and October 1. The votes will be counted on October 8.
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–IANS
