Several Awami Ittehad Party workers join National Conference in J&K

Srinagar, Sept 1 (PTI) Several workers of the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) headed by jailed Lok Sabha member Sheikh Abdul Rashid on Sunday joined the National Conference (NC).

The NC got a major boost as a key player from north Kashmir Malik Tariq Rashid along with other workers of the AIP joined the party, a spokesman of the NC said.

“In a significant political development, National Conference grabbed a big catch. Malik Tariq Rashid, a distinguished political leader from north Kashmir who among the political pundits is believed to have a great influence across the north, today formally joined the National Conference in the presence of Omar Abdullah,” the NC said in a post on X.

Malik had played a pivotal role in 2019 and the recently held Lok Sabha elections as he was one of the closest political advisors to Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid.

“This move will have a great impact on overall campaigning process,” the NC said.

Besides Malik Tariq Rashid, another key former AIP leader Tanveer Chalkoo also joined the NC in the presence of party vice president Omar Abdullah at the latter’s residence here.

In addition to this, AIP district co-ordinator Ganderbal and convener of Civil Society Safapora Sohail Nabi Khan was also welcomed into the party fold by Abdullah.

“Joining of Tariq Rashid and other young intellectual leaders will have a long lasting impact on the regional politics,” Abdullah said.

“I am very much sure that people from all the sections of the society will extend their support to National Conference to unitedly fight the BJP and its proxies,” he added.