New Delhi: Hafiz Mohammad Sikandar Malik, 37, former district president of the banned organisation Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) Kashmir, and the first candidate to contest Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections while wearing a GPS tracker strapped to his ankle, has lost from Bandipora assembly constituency. As of 2.15 pm, he is more than 16,000 votes behind the leading candidate from this seat, Nizam Uddin Bhat of the Congress.
Jammu and Kashmir Police continue to monitor him round-the-clock through the GPS tracker, even now.
Sikandar, who hails from Bandipora’s Gundpora area, contested the 2024 Jammu and Kashmir elections as an Independent, backed by JeI Kashmir. His manifesto included opposing the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024.
The JeI isn’t allowed to contest elections as it has been banned by the Centre, but it has indirectly entered the electoral process, after nearly four decades, by backing 10 Independent candidates. It was active in the state’s electoral politics till 1987, when it boycotted the elections after allegations of widespread rigging.
J&K’s 1st assembly polls in 10 yrs
Jammu & Kashmir voted for a 90-member Assembly in three phases—between 18 September and 1 October—in its first assembly election in 10 years.
The main parties in the fray are the National Conference (NC) and the Congress, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Sikandar had created a buzz when he went to submit his nomination papers sporting the GPS anklet. This election also had the second-highest number of Independent candidates in the history of the state’s assembly elections, the highest being in 2008.
In an interview to ThePrint during the elections, Sikandar had said that the tracker was attached roughly three months ago on court directions, concerning a case the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has been investigating against the JeI. He faces charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and was arrested in 2019 after the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. But he was granted bail on 2 December 2023.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)