Mehbooba relies on roadshows in attempt to regain lost ground

Bijbehara (JK), Apr 23 (PTI) The defeat in 2019 Lok Sabha polls from her party’s south Kashmir stronghold — less than a year after heading a coalition government with the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir — had led to questions about PDP president Mehbooba Mufti’s political future, but five years down the line she is again on a campaign trail seeking election to the Parliament from the newly-carved out Anantnag-Rajouri constituency. While rival National Conference has focused on holding mega election rallies in the constituency, Mufti who rose to prominence in the mid-1990s by visiting victims of conflict in the deepest of militancy-infested areas of Kashmir has fallen back on old tactics. Her campaign so far has mainly been to hold road shows in rural areas of the constituency which had whole-heartedly supported the PDP till the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Hugging the women folk and exchanging pleasantries with the men at every stop in the roadshow, Mufti makes it a point to highlight the absence of support for her during the last election. “I know you did not vote against me in the last election, you stayed away, but this time it is not about bijli, sadak or paani. This time it is about our dignity, our identity and our resources which are under threat. If you want these issues to be raised in the highest forum of the country, you will have to support the PDP,” Mufti tells the people.

She learned the art of politics from her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, one of the most shrewd and astute politicians to have come out of Jammu and Kashmir. And it seems she wants to change an adverse situation to her advantage. The PDP president carries a bag of candies and toffees in her car and gives away to every child she sees at the stops over. Perhaps, it is an atonement for her. “Toffee, milk” remarks she made as the chief minister when defending the death of young children in security forces action during the 2016 summer agitation in the valley.

Mehbooba Mufti, who is part of the INDIA bloc but decided to contest the elections against the National Conference — a fellow member of the anti-BJP alliance — has been able to generate some sympathy among the electorate. “She is fighting a lonely battle. Every other candidate has support from one national party or the other but it is anybody’s game. Anyone can win as this constituency formed after delimitation is so unnatural,” Rafiq Ahmad, a resident of Panchpora village, told PTI.

Nazir Ahmad, a resident of Marhama village, takes the conspiracy theory a notch higher. Pulling out a smartphone, he shows a photograph of National Conference leader Omar Abdullah and BJP leader Ravindra Raina, taken at some public function, as proof that the two parties have a covert understanding on the Anantnag-Rajouri seat.

“The BJP has not fielded its candidate and the Congress is supporting the National Conference openly. It’s all against one person that is the PDP leader (Mehbooba Mufti),” Ahmad added.

How does the PDP president feel about being on her own, especially after the 2018 exodus of leaders from her party, including former ministers and legislators.

“I am a daughter of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and I have faith in my people. The good thing that happened was that my workers did not leave me when those people (leaders) left. The majority of my workers remained with me and that gave me new energy, enthusiasm. New people have traction with the PDP. They do not join other parties, they come to us and that has infused a new lease of life into our party,” she said.

She said that when her father started his political career, he also faced a lot of conspiracies. “There was a social boycott against him. He was called a ‘gandi naali ka keeda’. There were many conspiracies against him, he was accused of being anti-Islam, anti-Muslim and anti-Kashmir. But he survived and I am his daughter,” she added.

Mufti said that no other party in Jammu and Kashmir has been subjected to what her PDP was made to go through.

“The PDP and Mehbooba Mufti are on the target of the BJP. My party was broken, our leaders were snatched either through lure or blackmail. Then I was thrown out of (government) house in winter. Everyone (leader) has a house, I do not want to name them. I was summoned to the ED office, even my mother was. Our passports were not issued, even my mother’s and daughter’s, even my brother was summoned by the ED. Many of my workers from Bijbehara are in detention. Arrests are against the PDP only. Attempts are being made to snatch the rest of the leaders from my party. The PDP is the only target, no other party is,” she said.

The PDP president said that she was all for a united fight against the BJP and was prepared to concede all three valley seats to the National Conference.

“But the way Omar called a press conference and made the announcement there saying the PDP had vanished. That hurt my workers and sympathizers and that became a question of their prestige. I think the people have to decide who raised the issues of people, prisoners, oppressed ones in the last five years. The NC had three members in the Parliament, they have to see their performance. Do we have to repeat that or send those people who talk about the people of J-K?” she said. While there are 21 candidates in the fray for Anantnag-Rajouri seat, it will be a virtual showdown between Mehbooba Mufti and NC candidate Mian Altaf Ahmad Larvi. The BJP has not fielded a candidate for this seat.