After Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, 79, breathed his last at AIIMS in New Delhi on Thursday morning, his daughter and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti is set to step into her father’s shoes to become the first woman Chief Minister of the State. Several PDP and BJP Ministers confirmed that there was no difference of opinion on elevation of Mehbooba to the hot seat.
Sayeed was admitted in the Intensive Care Unit of AIIMS since December 24, a day after his health deteriorated following his six-hour tour of Srinagar city on a spine-chilling cold day on December 22.
Mehbooba, the 56-year-old flamboyant leader, who plunged into politics in 1996 by sheer chance, has emerged as an astute politician and remained proactive in the field for the past 19 years.
Sources said the PDP has sent its letter of consent to Raj Bhawan while the BJP is following suit. Governor NN Vohra flew back to Jammu for procedural formalities. The oath ceremony is likely to take place on Friday or after the rituals come to an end.
Mehbooba is a law graduate from University of Kashmir and single mother to two young daughters Iltija and Irtiqa. She was introduced to politics by her father in 1996, the first Assembly elections held in J&K after 1987 due to eruption of militancy. Mufti was unable to find candidates thus gave mandate to his daughter and wife. Mehbooba won from Bijbehara and became the Congress legislature Party leader. Her campaign ensured Mufti’s own win in parliamentary polls of 1998 from south Kashmir.
Mehbooba, has all along been seen as the political heir of her father as her three siblings, two sisters and brother (a cinematographer in Hollywood) were not keen to join politics.
After quitting the Congress in 1998, the Muftis floated the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to address the local aspirations of people.
The PDP emerged as alternative to the National Conference as it tread a soft-separatist line. Mehbooba clad herself in green abaya and sported scarf to identify herself with the social and cultural milieu of Kashmir as she launched a tirade against the National Conference Government led by Dr Farooq Abdullah. She was seen attending the funerals of militants or holding sit-ins in front of Army camps to secure freedom of the relatives of active militants who were held by the security forces.
Mufti’s party secured pen and inkpot as election symbol for their party and adopted green flag, which was the brand of Muslim United Front (MUF), which fought 1987 elections. Most of the MUF candidates were defeated through rigging and this is known as one of the major triggers for eruption of militancy in J&K.
Mehbooba is known to have taken the vital decision of pulling out support to Ghulam Nabi Azad’s Government at the height of Amarnath land row in July 2008. This decision drew the Congress against the PDP and kept the party out of power for next six years. However, the father-daughter duo toiled hard to regain the lost fort, which they did in 2014 elections. However, this time Muftis had to align with the BJP.