Politics often reminds of games played in school, like plucking the petals of a flower: “they love me, they love me not”. The metaphor might be subtle, but it’s surprisingly effective and haunting considering what’s to come for PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti . PDP suffered its worst defeat in J&K’s long-awaited assembly elections, securing just three seats.
A stunning tailspin from 16 in 2002, 21 in 2008, and 28 in 2014. “We will play the role of a constructive opposition. The issues of the people do not end with an election,” she said, conceding defeat and bidding her supporters to not lose heart.
Mehbooba never envisioned herself as a politician. The eldest of four children born to former Union home minister and two-time J&K CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, she cherished the idea of a quieter life. But by the 1990s, she found herself stepping into politics at the behest of her father.
She became the reluctant representative of the family name, a role she never truly sought but one she would soon come to embody. Her journey from the periphery to the heart of Kashmiri politics was shaped by conviction. Recently, that same conviction caused her to step back.
She would not, she declared, contest any assembly elections until J&K’s statehood — lost with the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 — was restored. She stood resolute, unmoved by her party’s appeals. Instead, she chose to pass the mantle to the next generation, nominating her daughter Iltija Mufti to contest Srigu.
