Mehbooba Mufti set to take over as next CM of Jammu and Kashmir

Fifty-six-year-old Mehbooba Mufti will likely take over as the next chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir following the death of her father, the incumbent CM, at a New Delhi hospital on Thursday

Fifty-six-year-old Mehbooba Mufti will likely take over as the next chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir following the death of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, her father and the incumbent CM, at a New Delhi hospital on Thursday.

Fifty-six-year-old Mehbooba Mufti will likely take over as the next chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir following the death of her father. (PTI)

While the top leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party has made a unanimous choice for Mehbooba Mufti, its main alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party has also indicated its support to her elevation to the post.

“There i‎s not an iota of doubt that she is the next chief minister as far as PDP is concerned. Her contributions in building the party have been tremendous. She was living under the shadow of her father who was a statesman but still she made her mark,” Mehboob Beig, PDP chief spokesperson told Hindustan Times.

If the transition comes through, Mehbooba will be the first woman chief minister of the state.

On Wednesday senior PDP leaders, several cabinet ministers including the Chief Minister’s close aide Nayeem Akhtar and senior bureaucrats and police officials had called on Sayeed.

Sayeed, 79, who founded the PDP in 1999, was admitted to the intensive care unit of AIIMS on December 24 with a chest infection.