Handwara and Langate towns — home to politician Sajad Lone and Baramulla MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid — are separated by a mere 4km stretch of road but they have had a years-long competition to provide a third force in Valley politics, based in north Kashmir.

However, the label of being a BJP proxy seems to have become the Achilles’ heel of Lone and Rashid, although both have strongly rebutted the allegations.

The power in Kashmir has shuttled between the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) since 2002, with Sajad’s Peoples Conference and Engineer’s Awami Ittehad Party trying separately to create another power centre in north Kashmir.

For decades, the NC was the be-all and end-all of Kashmir’s pro-India politics until the PDP, with its south Kashmir base, emerged as a formidable player in the 2002 Assembly elections.

Engineer, who spent five years in Tihar jail and contested from prison, appeared close to achieving the feat of creating another power centre this year after he defeated stalwarts Omar Abdullah and Sajad in the parliamentary polls, leading in 13 of the 16 Assembly seats that went to polls on Tuesday.

He polled more votes than the two together.

Sajad, stung by allegations of being a BJP proxy, had to contend with a lead in just one Assembly segment, his pocket borough Handwara, and Omar in two — Pattan and Gurez. If Engineer repeats the performance, it might play a spoiler in the ambitions of the NC-Congress combine.

But within a few months of his success in the Lok Sabha polls, Engineer — released ahead of the Assembly elections to campaign for his party — seems to have lost at least some of his charm.

The Telegraph spoke to dozens of people who had voted for him last time but had shifted to other parties this time.

“Both of them (Engineer and Sajad) face a challenge even in their pocket boroughs Handwara and Langate. Sajad has a tough competition in Handwara from NC leader (and former minister) Chowdhary Ramzan, while Engineer’s party is facing a challenge here (from PC candidate Irfan Panditpuri),” Langate resident Abid Hussain, who had voted for Engineer last time, said.

Engineer is facing a slew of charges. There are allegations that he has encouraged nepotism by fielding his brother Sheikh Khursheed from Langate, promoting his son Abrar and fielding controversial figures in other places. But many also seem to buy into the allegations that he was given a free rope by the Centre to defeat BJP rivals NC, Congress and PDP.

“In the last election, there was a wave in his favour. There is no such wave this time,” Fayaz Lone, from Ganapora in Langate, said.

“He might win some seats but there is no question of repeating the performance. You had countless stories last time of family elders supporting NC or PC telling relatives to vote for their own parties. But their wives and children defied them and voted for Engineer. This is not happening today.”

In neighbouring Marhat village, part of Rajwar in Handwara constituency, residents said they had helped Sajad win the seat last time.

“Thousands of residents in Rajwar are not allowed to take this road after 10pm by the army. It has been happening since the inception of militancy. We are forced to take a longer road during night and during emergencies we have a tough time. Last time, they did not even allow an ambulance,” a resident said.

“Despite being all powerful and close to the BJP, Sajad sahab could not stop the practice. Additionally, his workers have profited at our expense. In 2014 we voted for him despite knowing he is close to the BJP. But the tag is hitting him this time as the BJP has shown its real colours.”

Sajad has represented Handwara once in the Assembly but his father Abdul Gani Lone represented it four times between 1962 to 1977. During the early 1990s, the family shifted to separatism until Sajad returned to electoral politics in 2009.

The voter turnout for the third phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls was 65.58 per cent. Twenty-four seats in Jammu and 16 in Kashmir went to the polls on Tuesday. The turnout was 61.38 per cent and 57.31 per cent in the first two phases. The overall turnout figure for the three phases was 63.45 per cent. In 2014, it was 65.84 per cent.