In the 2024 Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, Mehbooba Mufti’s party, the PDP (People’s Democratic Party), is fighting to survive. The party, which was the largest in the state just 10 years ago, has only managed to win 3 seats this time. In the 2014 elections, the PDP won the most seats and formed a government in alliance with the BJP.
In the 2024 elections, the PDP secured only 8.87% of the vote share. The three seats the party won are Kupwara, Tral, and Pulwama. The Tral seat saw a narrow victory, with PDP candidate Rafiq Ahmed Naik winning by just 460 votes.
Mehbooba Mufti’s Daughter Loses Election
In Kupwara, Mir Mohammad Fayaz, and in Pulwama, Waheed-ur-Rehman Para, were the only PDP candidates who managed to win. Mehbooba Mufti’s daughter, Iltija Mufti, contested for the first time from the family seat of Bijbehara but lost to National Conference’s Bashir Ahmed Shah Veeri by 9,770 votes. Even senior party leader Mehboob Beg lost his election.
PDP’s Dominance 10 Years Ago
In the 2014 Assembly elections, the PDP emerged as the largest party, winning 28 seats with 22.67% of the vote share. This was 7 more seats than in the previous election, showing the party’s growing influence.
Mehbooba Mufti’s Response to the Election Results
After the PDP won only three seats, Mehbooba Mufti expressed disappointment but said that the party has both a vision and an agenda that will take it far in the future.
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PDP’s Rapid Rise in 4 Years
Mehbooba Mufti entered politics in 1996 with her father, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, and quickly built the PDP into a powerful party. In just four years, the PDP not only challenged the National Conference but also ousted the state’s oldest party from power.
The PDP won 16 seats in the 2002 elections, which increased to 21 in 2008. In 2014, the party achieved a landslide victory, winning 28 seats. Mehbooba Mufti herself has served as a legislator four times, winning elections in 1996, 2002, 2008, and a by-election in 2016. She also won the 2004 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
