Engineer Rashid's Brother Khursheed Ahmad Sheikh Wins From Langate

The younger brother of released Lok Sabha MP and Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) chief Sheikh Rashid, aka Engineer Rashid, Khursheed Ahmad Sheikh won from Langate Assembly constituency. He has defeated Irfan Sultan Panditpuri of People’s Conference by a margin of 1,602 votes.

Sheikh, a government teacher, resigned from his job in June, soon after his brother defeated National Conference (NC) vice president and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and People’s Conference (PC) leader Sajjad Lone in the Lok Sabha elections.

He chose his political debut from the Langate assembly segment of Kupwara, the same seat his brother represented for two consecutive terms—in 2008 and in 2014.

The recent yet significant shift in constituency’s history has been marked by the influence of Engineer Rashid. Rashid resigned from his government serve and contested as an independent and secured victory. He retained his position in 2014 elections by defeating PDP’s Ghulam Nabi Ganai by a margin of 2,505 votes.

People’s Conference leader Irfan Panditpori is incumbent District Development Council (DDC) Chairman. He is the son of former MLA Mohammad Sultan Panditpuri. During the campaigns Panditpuri talks about the anger and resentment of being left after the Lok Sabha polls. “People have been emotionally blackmailed. And they have now understood,” Hinudstan Times, quotes as he is saying.

Langate, traditionally a stronghold of the NC, retained it for four consecutive terms: 1977, 1983, 1987, and 1996. In the 1999 by-election, PDP candidate M S Panditpuri, who earlier belonged to NC, won it while NC’s Sharif-ud-din Shariq bagged the seat in 2002.