In an evening thick with gratitude, memory, and quiet emotion, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti hosted a dinner to mark 30 years of her political journey.
So, I just wanted to thank you,” Mehbooba told the gathering. The gathering brought together journalists who have walked beside her through every high and every fall — those who celebrated her work and those who held her accountable when they believed she had gone wrong. “I felt that in this journey of mine, you all have played a big role in my ups and downs, in lifting me up and letting me fall.
Her political story began in 1996, at a time when terrorism was at its peak and many were reluctant to contest elections under the Indian constitutional framework.
She said. She acknowledged the difficult conditions under which media professionals work across India, noting that the challenges are even greater in Jammu and Kashmir. “Working everywhere is very difficult for the media right now, but it’s even more tough to work in Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir. Her father, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, then leading the Congress in the state, struggled to find candidates. He fielded family members, including Mehbooba from the family’s home constituency of Bijbehara in south Kashmir.
She contested the 1999 Lok Sabha election from Srinagar and lost to Omar Abdullah, but the setback did not deter her. In the landmark 2002 Assembly elections, she won from Pahalgam, and the PDP, with just 16 seats, formed a coalition government with the Congress — installing Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as Chief Minister. Mehbooba later won the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat in 2004 and again in 2014. After the 2014 Assembly elections threw up a hung verdict, the PDP entered its second coalition—this time with the Bharatiya Janata Party. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed became Chief Minister in March 2015. When Mufti Sayeed passed away on 7 January 2016, Mehbooba remained deeply reluctant for nearly three months to continue the coalition government with the BJP.
Mehbooba Mufti won that maiden Assembly election on a Congress ticket, defeating her National Conference rival, and went on to serve as leader of the Congress Legislature Party.
She said That first victory marked the start of a long and turbulent path. In 1999, Father and Daughter left the Congress and founded the People’s Democratic Party, seeking a distinct regional voice rooted in the “healing touch” approach and self-rule and giving alternatives to people. In those years, she recalled, there was no social media, no personal security. “In the 90s there was no social media; we used to walk on foot with a camera, there was no PSO; it was just the mountains and forests alone to reach people. Mehbooba became the public face of the new party, connecting with ordinary Kashmiris, particularly women and conflict-affected families, often visiting homes scarred by violence. Many within the party and across Kashmir later came to regard this alliance as one of the PDP’s most costly political mistakes. The ground situation, however, left her with little room.
