Ehsan Fazili

In the peak of terrorism and public unrest in Kashmir in 1996, when men dared not take up normal political work, a young woman with no idea of what she was getting into filed her candidature for the J&K Legislative Assembly elections and campaigned without fear.

She was Mehbooba Mufti, the eldest of the three children of the then Congress leader Mufti Syed. She had never shown an inclination nor did she harbour an ambition to join politics, yet she rose to become the first and, so far, the only woman chief minister of J&K.

“I did it for Daddy,” she said about her entry into politics. Back in 1996, when J&K was going to elections after seven years, the PCC(I) chief, Syed, couldn’t find candidates to nominate from the Kashmir region. The reason was the fear of reprisals from terrorists who had banned people from associating with the ‘Indian’ election.

Mehbooba Mufti

In desperation, he asked his wife, Gulshana and daughter, Mhbooba, to file their nominations, not knowing that his daughter would become a phenomenon.

The gutsy Mehbooba was among a few candidates who campaigned on the near-empty roads and villages where the terrorists had warned people against interacting with ‘Indian’ politicians and casting their votes in the election.

Mehbooba won her maiden election from her native town of Bijbehara in the Anantnag district of South Kashmir. Her presence on the scene changed the politics of Kashmir; it brought back leaders who showed compassion and listened to people in a situation where the common man was torn between the State forces and the pro-Pakistan terrorists, who ruled the roost.

Mehbooba Mufti, 65, holds a Law degree from the University of Kashmir. She married her cousin Javed Iqbal in 1984. The couple separated after the birth of their daughters, Iltija and Irtiqa. While her sister had graduagted from a medicla college and her brother was dabbing into film making (Tassaduq Mufti, known for his association with Haider), Mehbooba was happy being a stay-at=home mom of her two daughters.

Mehbooba Mufti speaking at a public rally

After obtaining khula from her husband after three years of their marriage, Mehbooba shifted to Delhi in the late eighties and took up a job in the tourism sector. She did not return to Kashmir till she was called to don the mantle of a public representative.

A turning point in her political career came with the father-daughter duo’s broking away from the Congress and the launching of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in 1999. The party, as an alternative regional political force, started making inroads into the bastions of the National Conference and carved a place for itself.

For the first time, Syed was becoming relevant to the local politics, and Mehbooba had a major role to play in this.

"PDP stands with people of Iran in this difficult time, to support Monday's bandh call in Valley."

- Mehbooba Mufti slams US, Israel over killing of Iran's Supreme Leader pic.twitter.com/HlRSJNBkUW

— News Arena India (@NewsArenaIndia) March 1, 2026

Mehbooba became a big helping hand to father, who had struggled to remain relevant to J&K politics for over three decades. The senior Mufti would caution her against being impulsive in public and also remained under his tutelage for years.

 The party leaders, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Mehbooba Mufti and Muzaffar Hussain Baig, soon after the launch of PDP (July 31, 1999), traversed through far-flung and distant areas to mobilise public support at a time when the state was in the grip of armed militancy, and most of the areas felt ignored and had the least access to the government’s facilities.

Mufti Syed hugging Mehbooba and Rubiya Syed after the latter was released by terrorists

The National Conference and Farooq Abdullah's government was, for the first time, feeling challenged.

As a PDP candidate, Mehbooba Mufti contested and lost the 1999 Lok Sabha elections from Srinagar against NC’s incumbent Omar Abdullah. For the next three years, the PDP leadership took its campaign to most of the areas, including the far-flung and distant regions, seeking public support.

In the 2002 Assembly elections, Mehbooba was elected from the Pahalgam constituency of Anantnag district. She later vacated the seat for her father, who had taken over as the Chief Minister without contesting the election.

Mehbooba Mufti ar Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi

While Mufti Syed became the chief minister of a coalition government in J&K in 2002 (With Congress), it was his dream come true. The veteran leader had mostly been elected to the Rajya Sabha and only once to the Lok Sabha from Jammu in his long career. In private conversations, the senior Mufti never forgot to credit his daughter, who was leading the party, for galvanising the public support for him.

Mufti Syed was a two-term Chief Minister -- from 2002 to 2005 (PDP-Congress coalition) and 2015 to 2016 (PDP-BJP alliance).

After Mufti’s death on January 7, 2016, in New Delhi, Mehbooba refused to take over as chief minister and due to this, the State was placed under the governor’s rule.

 After prolonged parleys, Mehbooba Mufti took over the reins of the PDP-BJP coalition Government on April 4, 2016. Two years later, her government fell as the BJP pulled its support, leading to the Governor’s rule and President’s rule.

The situation changed drastically with the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35 A when the State was divided into two Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh on August 5, 2019.

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Mehbooba Mufti’s party did not do well in the recent elections, but she continued to fight the government tooth and nail. Her first daughter, Iltija Mufti, is also treading on the same path as she contested the Assembly election. Earlier, she had taken charge of the party’s media strategy.