Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti was unanimously re-elected as Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president for a three-year term. Senior leader and party vice president Abdul Rehman Veeri proposed Mufti's name as PDP chief, which was seconded by general secretary Ghulam Nabi Hanjura, as reported by news agency ANI. All members of the electoral college backed Mufti's nomination through a voice vote.
Addressing party workers following her re-election as PDP chief, Mufti urged them to get into election mode and repeat the party's performance in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. "Elections are not everything but these elections are important to get our strength back. Parliament elections are coming and you should get down to work right away," PTI quoted Mufti as saying.
The former J&K CM said her detractors had tried to find faults with her but failed to come up with any concrete allegation. Defending her late father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's decision to form the government with BJP in 2015, Mehbooba said, "His decision has been proved right as BJP would have wreaked havoc in J-K if he had not reined them in".
"The criticism against me is about my 'toffee, milk' remark (in 2016). I had said that as a mother. Had they listened to me, my daughter Insha would not have been blinded. She became a collateral in clashes between miscreants and security forces," PTI quoted Mehbooba as saying.
She also took a swipe at the National Conference while not naming the party and raked up the death of two women in 2009 in Shopian when Omar Abdullah was the chief minister. "Is there any other allegation against Mehbooba Mufti? Is she accused of (bringing) POTA, task force? Is she accused of Shopian rape and murder?" she asked.
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October 26 also marked Accession Day -- when Jammu and Kashmir became part of the Union of India in 1947. She also hit out at the BJP over the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370, saying it would have to return what was "snatched on August 5, 2019".
"I want to tell them that we had acceded to the idea of India where our identity will be protected. You have weakened that accession. You will realise this in time to come. I also want to say that you will have to return everything taken from us with interest, starting from what was snatched on August 5, 2019," Mehbooba further said.