Jammu & Kashmir Assembly Elections 2024 | Mehbooba Mufti opts out of CM race

Srinagar: People’s Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti announced on Wednesday that she would not seek the chief ministerial position in the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, citing the role's lack of power in the current Union Territory (UT) structure.

Mehbooba, who was the last chief minister of the erstwhile state, expressed doubts about her ability to advance her party's agenda under the existing framework.

Reflecting on her past tenure, she highlighted the limitations she would face now, stating, “I once led a government with the BJP, where we managed to revoke FIRs against 12,000 individuals in 2016. Can we achieve that today? As Chief Minister, even under Modi's government, I reached out to separatists for talks. But if you can't even retract an FIR as CM, what use is the position?”

Adding a new chapter to the Mufti family’s political legacy, Mehbooba's daughter, Iltija Mufti, has entered the electoral race, marking the third generation of the family in politics. On Tuesday, Iltija filed her nomination for the Bijbehara assembly seat, a PDP stronghold in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

“This is an emotional moment for me,” Iltija shared, noting that both her mother and her grandfather, the late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, had also begun their political journeys from Bijbehara. After visiting her grandfather's grave before filing her nomination, she added, “I felt his presence with me.”

In another development, the PDP has decided to field its leader, Bashir Ahmad Mir, against Omar Abdullah in the Ganderbal Assembly constituency in central Kashmir. The move comes a day after the National Conference (NC) declared Omar as its candidate for the seat.

Interestingly, despite being allies in the INDIA bloc, NC and PDP find themselves contesting against each other in the upcoming assembly polls in J&K. Omar Abdullah had recently urged the PDP not to field candidates against NC-Congress nominees for the greater good of Jammu and Kashmir.

In response Mehbooba said, “If the National Conference and Congress are willing to embrace our agenda, we would support them contesting all seats because, for me, resolving the Kashmir issue is paramount.”