J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti will fight from father’s seat

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday filed her nomination papers for bypoll to Anantnag Assembly segment.

The seat fell vacant following the death of her father and PDP patron Mufti Muhammad Sayeed on January 7 this year. He had been elected to the state Assembly from Anantnag in November-December 2014 elections and subsequently became the chief minister to lead the first PDP-BJP coalition government in the state.

Ms Mufti, 57, is currently a member of Lok Sabha elected from home constituency Ananatnag in the last general elections. As she took over as the chief minister of the state at the head of PDP-BJP government on April 4, 2016, she has to become a member of either house of the J&K legislature within the mandatory period of six months from her swearing-in.

She preferred to fight the Anantnag by-poll, necessitated by her father’s demise. On the last date of filing of nomination papers, six other candidates also filed their papers on Wednesday, taking the total number of nominations to nine, including six independents and three from political parties.

The others who have filed their nominations are Hilal Ahmad Shah of Congress party, Iftikhar Hussain Misgar of National Conference and independents Tejinder Singh, Manzoor Ahmad Khan, Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman, Sheikh Abdur Rashid, Masroor Ahmad Mir and Mushtaq Ahmad Shah. Mr. Rashid who is sitting MLA from Langaet segment of north-western Kupwara district heads regional Awami Itehad Party (AIP) but since it is not recongnised by the Election Commission he too filed his papers as an independent.

The scrutiny of nomination papers will be held on June 2 and the nominations can be withdrawn by June 4, officials said. The voting will be held on June 19 and counting of votes on June 22.

After filing her nomination papers before the returning officer at Anantnag, the PDP chief voiced hope that the people will repose faith in her father and elect her so that she can complete the work started by him.

“People showed their trust in Mufti Sahib and gave him an opportunity to be the Chief Minister. I’m hopeful that people will again repose their faith in him and give me an opportunity to complete the work left by my father,” she said. She added, “You will elect me to realise Mufti Sahib’s dream of bringing peace and development to Jammu and Kashmir. He started his political career from Anantnag and people of the area showed their trust in him during difficult times”.

Ms. Mufti has earlier been elected to the State Assembly thrice. Her first victory came in 1996 when she got elected from home segment Bijbehara as a Congress candidate. She resigned from the party and the Assembly in 1999 to float regional PDP along with her father and other colleagues.

She won the 2002 Assembly polls from Pahalgam segment in Anantnag district but resigned two years later after she was elected to the Lok Sabha from Anantnag. She successfully fought the 2008 Assembly elections from Wachi segment in south Kashmir’s Shopian district and completed first full six-year term in the house till 2014.