Mehbooba Mufti, president of the Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, was the first woman to hold the CM office from April 4, 2016 to June 19, 2018. Mufti was born on May 22, 1959 in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir. She is the daughter of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who also served as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. A law graduate, Mehbooba took a plunge into mainstream politics of the state in 1996 by joining Congress, along with her father, at a time when militancy was at its peak. She then played a key role in her father’s victory as a Congress candidate in Lok Sabha elections of 1998 when he defeated National Conference’s Mohammad Yousuf Taing from south Kashmir. In 1999, Mufti co-founded the PDP with her father. She served as the party's president from 1999 to 2005, and again from 2010 to 2016. In 2002, Mufti contested and won her first election to the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly from the Bijbehara constituency. She was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2004 and 2009. In 2014, the PDP formed an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form the government in Jammu and Kashmir. Mufti was sworn in as Chief Minister on April 4, 2016. Mufti's tenure as Chief Minister was marked by a number of challenges. She resigned as Chief Minister on 19 June 2018, after the BJP withdrew its support to her government. When the Centre in 2019 abrogated Article 370, which granted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, and divided it into two Union Territories — J-K and Ladakh, Mehbooba opposed the move by saying, "I am never going to participate in assembly elections as long as Article 370 is not restored. Whenever I took oath as a member of the assembly, it was under two Constitutions — the J-K Constitution and the Constitution of India, with two flags at the same time. Maybe it is foolish on my part, but, it is more of an emotional issue for me." Mehbooba referred to the separate Constitution and the flag that Jammu and Kashmir had under its special status.