Mehbooba Mufti set to become first woman Chief Minister of J&K

After the death of Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, the ex-chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, his daughter, the President of the Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party, is set to take over the reins as the first ever, female Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir.

 Mehbooba Mufti Sayeed, born on the 22^nd of May 1959, is the current president of Jammu & Kashmir’s People’s Democratic Party. She was a member of the 14^th Lok Sabha (2004-2009), representing the Anantnag constituency of Jammu & Kashmir. The PDP failed to win a seat in the Lok Sabha elections of 2009, and she did not contest herself that year. But in 2014, she was reelected to represent the Anantang constituency.

 Mehbooba is one of the few female politicians from J&K who is recognized all over India. When she split from the Indian National Congress in 1999 to form the PDP, many thought and expected her to be party President. But, she deferred to her father’s expertise, and took on the role of Vice President.

Image Source: PTI

She contested the parliamentary elections in 1999 from Srinagar, where she lost to the sitting member Omar Abdullah, but won the Pahalgam seat from South Kashmir.

 Following the death of Mufti Mohammed Sayeed due to sepsis and multiple organ failure in Delhi, Mehbooba Mufti is set to become the first woman Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

 As of today, Jammu and Kashmir is under a spell of Governer’s rule, as prospective Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is in mourning, and is most likely to take the oath on Monday. The party is observing chahrum (culmination of the four-day mourning as per traditions) of the late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed — former chief minister, who died in New Delhi on Thursday morning — on January 10. It is only after that will Ms. Mufti be sworn in as first woman Chief Minister of J&K, said party sources.

– By Prithvi Punjabi

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