Mehbooba Mufti faces dissent over daughter’s nomination from ‘safe’ seat

Srinagar: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti is facing pushback and rebellion from long-time loyalists over candidate selection for the upcoming J&K assembly elections, especially after nominating her 37-year-old daughter Iltija Mufti for Srigufwara-Bijbehara constituency. Srigufwara-Bijbehara — known as Bijbehara before the delimitation exercise of 2023 — in Anantnag district of south Kashmir is set to vote in the first phase on Sept 18. The seat is seen as a “family bastion” for the Muftis. The party’s founder Mufti Mohammad Sayeed first won here in 1967 as a Congress candidate, and his daughter Mehbooba claimed victory there in 1996. The family has deep roots in the area, with Iltija’s father Javid Shah also hailing from the area.From 1999 to 2018, PDP’s Abdul Rehman Veeri, also known as Abdul Rehman Bhat, held the seat and served as a minister in successive Mufti govts. Mehbooba’s decision to field her daughter has stirred discontent, as Veeri now plans to run as an independent candidate from Srigufwara-Bijbehara, although the party has offered him a ticket for Anantnag East.“Since this will be Iltija’s first election, Mehbooba is keen to secure a safe constituency for her. But Veeri could complicate matters if he decides to file his nomination for that constituency instead of the one assigned to him, as he enjoys considerable support among Bijbehara’s voters,” a source said Wednesday.This has added to the tension within PDP, as other party members have also expressed dissatisfaction with candidate selections. Senior party figure Suhail Bukhari resigned after the ticket for Sangrama constituency in north Kashmir was given to Basharat Bukhari — who deserted PDP in 2019 to join NC, briefly went to Sajad Gani Lone’s Peoples Conference, and returned to PDP this year. PDP decided to field the turncoat as he had represented the constituency twice.Several other PDP members, including former MLA Ajaz Mir, have defected to Awami Itehad Party (AIP) of Baramulla’s independent MP Abdul Rashid Sheikh aka Engineer Rashid. Arrested in 2019 on terrorism-funding charges and currently in New Delhi’s Tihar jail, Rashid’s party has been gaining support from disillusioned politicians ahead of the elections.Iltija, a political science graduate from Delhi University and holder of a master’s degree in international relations from Warwick University in England, entered active politics following the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.She acted as the party’s spokesperson during her mother’s house arrest and campaigned extensively for her in Anantnag-Rajouri during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. However, Mehbooba Mufti lost to National Conference’s Mian Altaf. Srigufwara-Bijbehara falls within the Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary constituency.