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Bijbehara voters lock in debutante Iltija’s destiny
The Mufti family came into polling day with high stakes, desperate to retain their home constituency of Bijbehara in the heart of People Democratic Party’s (PDP) stronghold in south Kashmir.
The Mufti family came into polling day with high stakes, desperate to retain their home constituency of Bijbehara in the heart of People Democratic Party’s (PDP) stronghold in south Kashmir. The party had tasked former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti’s daughter Iltija to brave the undercurrent working in favour of opposing candidates.
Iltija Mufti, 36, is taking on National Conference veteran Bashir Veeri and Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Sofi Yousuf from a seat (now named Sirgufwara-Bijbehara) that both her mother and grandfather Mufti Mohammad Sayeed have represented. Making her poll debut, she faces a tough challenge.
The seat has remained a stronghold since 1996, when Mehbooba Mufti won it. She, however, has decided to not contest the elections this time.
While many voters expressed their faith in Muftis and their governments’ developmental work in the belt since 2002, others were disillusioned by the party particularly since they formed an alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2014.
“We have her back. She is our neighbour, which means we are her shadow. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed did a lot of work for the area,” Mubeena Akhtar, in her 50s, said while waiting to cast her vote at a polling station in Jal Shakti Office, Bijbehara.
Iltija emerged on scene when her mother was detained by the government ahead of the revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019. Articulate and not one to mince her words, she holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Delhi University and a master’s in international relations from University of Warwick in the UK.
In the nearby pink polling station in Zirpara Boys Higher Secondary School, however, many remained unconvinced with the PDP. “The party did what we never would have imagined. They aligned with BJP and all hell broke loose after that,” Bilal Ahmad, a shopkeeper said after casting his vote.
“There is some support for the party in the town but in villages, people are not supporting it anymore,” he said.
In contrast, 50-something Firdous Ahmad started to list the developmental works carried out by the Mufti family in the area. “This college, the stadium nearby, the hospital - in 70 years nobody did anything for us except Muftis,” Ahmad, a businessman, said.
Mehbooba Mufti had won from the seat on Congress ticket in 1996 while her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, a Congressman then, had also debuted from the seat in 1967. In 1999, the father-daughter duo founded their own party, the PDP, from the constituency. In the 2014 assembly elections, PDP’s Abdul Rehman Bhat had beaten NC’s Veeri by 2,800 votes.
The election is even more significant given Mehbooba Mufti’s recent Lok Sabha defeat from Anantnag-Rajouri. Notably, the party had maintained a lead in the Bijbehara assembly segment by getting 20,792 votes as against NC’s 17,698 votes.
Young voter Owais Ahmad said it was hard to trust the party, “We need to give a chance to Veeri. Iltija is young and a novice in politics. Kashmir has been ruined after their collaboration with BJP and the abrogation of article 370. Besides, many of the party’s founding leaders are no longer with it.”
The one demographic that Iltija has managed to find traction with is young women voters. At the Government Degree College, Bijbehara, Ruby Jan, 35, had come out in a Burkha to vote for her. “She talks well. My life’s first vote is for her. She should win,” said the mother of two kids.
Iltija Mufti, after casting her vote, was happy that youngsters were putting their trust in vote. “Many of our workers are unemployed. It is always better that their faith in democracy is revived. Delhi has left no stone unturned to undermine democracy here. I am happy that many women are also coming out to vote. Old women and young college going women, they are all participating and it gives me immense joy,” she said.
