Struggling to retrieve its lost ground in the Kashmir Valley, the Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday re-elected former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti as its president for a three-year term.
Mehbooba Mufti's name was proposed by Senior Vice President Abdul Rehman Veeri and seconded by General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Hanjura and former minister Abdul Gaffar Sofi.
All the members of the electoral college supported the nomination through a voice vote. The election process was held simultaneously in Jammu, which was connected to the Srinagar office of the party online. Mehbooba's election for the eighth consecutive term was unanimous. Mehbooba thanked party leaders for reposing their trust and electing her as their president.
Last Chief Minister of the erstwhile state of J&K.
Mehbooba Mufti is the last chief of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. The 63-year-old firebrand leader was first elected as the PDP president after her father Mufti Muhammad Sayeed passed away in January 2016.
At the age of 57, Mehbooba became the first woman chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir in April 2016 and remained in office till June 2018 when the BJP withdrew its support from the alliance government.
After the fall of the PDP-BJP alliance government in June 2018, the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into the two Union Territories on October 21, 2019.
After the abrogation of J&K's special status under Article 370 on August 5, 2019, she was jailed for a year. However, the challenges before Mehbooba in her second innings as the PDP president are much bigger than before. Her party has been in shambles ever since she lost power in 2018 as a large number of senior leaders have deserted the party.
A law graduate, Mehbooba took the plunge into mainstream politics of the state in 1996 by joining the Congress, along with her father, at a time when terrorism was at its peak in the erstwhile state.
She emerged from the shadow of her illustrious father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who founded the PDP in 1999, to head Jammu and Kashmir as the first woman chief minister of the J&K in 2016.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was formed in 1998 by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as a regional alternative to the National Conference. The party grew from strength to strength during the last two decades with many political stalwarts joining it. Several technocrats and bureaucrats, after retiring from service, also joined the PDP over the years.
PDP has faced a big challenge since its formation
The Peoples Democratic Party is facing its biggest challenge since its formation. While Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had managed to retain the grip over the party, most of the prominent leaders including some founding members have left over the last two five years.
PDP was founded by Mufti Sayeed along with a dozen of his loyalists on July 28, 1999, and the party had achieved power by the end of the year 2002. Despite having 16 MLAs in his kitty Mufti became Chief Minister of a coalition with Congress, having 20 seats.
Not only PDP's rise in the politics of J&K was unprecedented its downfall is also 'extraordinary' because within a span of just five the party is on the 'verge of extinction'. Co-founder of PDP and former Deputy Chief Minister of J&K Muzaffar Hussain Beigh had resigned from the party on November 14, 2020.
There is a long list of prominent leaders who have resigned from the party. Former Finance Minister and one of the founder members of the party Tariq Hamid Karra had resigned from PDP on September 16, 2016.
In the month of June 2018, PDP had five MPs (three Lok Sabha, two Rajya Sabha members) 28 MLAs, and 14 MLCs in its kitty. There was also a strong grassroots level organization structure of the party at that time but as of now only a couple of former legislators are left within the party.
