Srinagar: A day after Delhi’s Patiala House Court granted an interim bail to Awami Itehad Party (AIP) patriarch Er Sheikh Abdur Rashid till October 2, the party is mulling a grand welcome for the jailed Member Parliament from Srinagar airport and a rally in Srinagar.

“Formalities are being completed to get Er Rashid out of Tihar jail. We are planning a grand welcome for him right from Srinagar international airport on September 13. We have also sought permission for a political rally either in SK Stadium or Bakshi Stadium Srinagar,” AIP chief spokesman Inamun Nabi said as per NVI.

He said they are hopeful to get permission to hold rally at one of the two locations suggested by them.

There are celebrations all over in north Kashmir, the parliamentary constituency represented by Er Rashid. As soon the news of his bail spread in Kashmir, people across north Kashmir hit the streets and staged rallies in favour of Er Rashid. The north Kashmir MP will be “released on bail” after remaining in New Dehli’s Tihar jail for five years in connection with terror funding case.

After gaining ground in North Kashmir by defeating big-wigs like Omar Abdullah of National Conference and Sajad Lone of Peoples Conference, Er Rashid’s AIP spread its wings by fielding candidates from as many as over 45 seats including some crucial seats like Ganderbal.

Bail to Er Rashid has already evoked sharp reactions from senior politicians like Omar Abdullah, who claimed that bail won’t serve the people of north Kashmir but would get votes. PDP smelled rat in Er Rashid’s bail. The party chief Mehbooba Mufti said that while family members of jailed people are not even allowed to visit prisons to meet their dear ones and here, jailed MP is allowed to run the election campaign.