Srinagar: Iltija Mufti, the daughter of former Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti lost her maiden election to her political opponent from the National Conference (NC).
She was contesting from the Srigufwara-Bijbehara constituency, the home bastion of two-generation Muftis where her mother Mehbooba made her electoral debut in 1996.
Since then, the seat was retained by the PDP through their loyalist Abdul Rehman Veeri who was shifted to Anantnag West this time. Iltija lost to her political opponent from the National Conference Bashir Ahmad Veeri by a margin of nearly 10000 votes.
37-year-old Iltija, who is articulate, emerged as a face of PDP when her mother was detained under the Public Safety Act following the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. This is the second defeat for the Mufti family in the last four months after Mehbooba lost the Lok Sabha elections from the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency. But she described the consecutive electoral losses as part of the politics.
"Four months ago, my mother lost elections," Iltija told ETV Bharat at the party headquarters where she thronged alongside her mother in the afternoon. "Now I lost the polls. But these are cycles that keep happening," she added.
This time, the party was routed across Jammu and Kashmir with only three seats in their kitty out of the 90 seats. The seats include Pulwama, Tral and Kupwara. Citing the implosion in the party for the setback in the election, Iltija blamed the Centre for breaking up their party and forcing the leaders to quit the PDP.
"The media keeps talking about our alliance with the BJP. But what worked against us was that our party was broken by the central government,” she alleged.
"We took a strong stand against Article 370. The other parties were sent notices by the Enforcement Directorate and they maintained silence. But we paid for standing with truth," she claimed.
The loss of Srigufwara-Bijbehara is significant as it ended the domination of Muftis from their traditional bastion. In 1972, Iltija's grandfather Mufti Mohammad Sayeed won his maiden election from the seat. The anti-incumbency following their alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the replacement of Abdul Rehman Veeri from the seat worked against Iltija.
Taking responsibility for the loss, she said people in Kashmir wanted a "complete change" in this election. "Even other seats in south Kashmir which was our bastion but we could not manage to win," she added.
"PDP is going to play the role of Opposition. If everyone is going to sit in the government, who is going to hold them accountable? I think we should play the role of an effective, robust opposition," said Iltija.
Political analysts attribute the PDP's decline to internal discord and the exodus of prominent leaders following the revocation of Article 370. These departures, coupled with the party's inability to adapt to the new political landscape, contributed to its weakening.
