ANANTNAG: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Monday accused jailed MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid's Awami Ittehad Party of being a proxy of the BJP , and warned the people of Jammu and Kashmir not to come under the influence of such parties. Her remarks came a day after PDP candidate from south Kashmir's Shopian assembly segment Yawar Shafi Banday was injured in an alleged attack by the workers of the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP), which is led by Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, in Balpora area of Shopian. "Our candidate was going to his constituency, some workers associated with AIP assaulted them, even our candidate Yawar Banday was beaten and he is fighting for his life, his ribs broken, his condition is serious," Mehbooba claimed while addressing a press conference in Khanabal area of Anantnag district.
Rashid defeated former chief minister and National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah from the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency earlier this year. The PDP chief questioned how the AIP was organising resources and candidates when their chief was behind the bars. "I want to know that Rashid is in jail.
(PDP founder) Mufti (Mohammad Sayeed) took 50 years to form the party, we still do not have resources to field candidates everywhere. Who is behind his (Engineer's) organisation as their candidates are fielded everywhere, wherefrom is the funding coming? Wherefrom are they getting such courage to engage in hooliganism?" she added. The former chief minister alleged that .