Mehbooba Mufti's Daughter Acknowledges Defeat as PDP Struggles in Elections

Iltija Mufti, daughter of former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, on Tuesday accepted defeat in the Assembly elections as PDP is heading for one of the worst performances ever.

She was fighting her maiden Assembly polls from the Srigufwara-Bijbehara in South Kashmir.

According to the latest data from Election Commission, PDP had led only four seats.

Iltija Mufti posted, "Accept the verdict of people. Love & affection I received from everyone in Bijbehara will always stay with me. Gratitude to my PDP workers who worked so hard throughout this campaign." 37-year-old PDP leader was trailing the National Conference's Bashir Ahmad Veeri.

Srigufwara-Bijbehara has been a stronghold of the PDP for the past few decades. It was represented by Iltija Mufti's grandfather and former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and her mother Mehbooba Mufti before delimitation. The seat is a big loss to the Muftis.

Polls were conducted here on September 18 in the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir elections, and a voter turnout of 60.43 per cent was recorded in the constituency.

In the 2014 polls, PDP's Abdul Rehman Bhat had defeated Veeri. But this time Veeri was doing well and was on the road to victory.

The NC had been trying to make inroads into the constituency over the past few years and campaigned vigorously.

The PDP had won 28 seats in the 2014 Assembly polls. The party had formed the government in Jammu and Kashmir in 2015 in an alliance with the BJP. The BJP, however, withdrew its support in 2018.

This time, Mehbooba Mufti did not contest the Assembly polls and her daughter was the party's face in South Kashmir. Mehbooba Mufti had contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections but faced a defeat.

Elections to 90 constituencies in the union territory, the first election since the abrogation of Article 370 and the change in its structure, were held in three phases — September 18, September 25 and October 1.