Born on January 12, 1936 in Bijbehara in Anantnag district of the state, Sayeed was an almunus of SP College in Srinagar and Aligarh Muslim University. Sayeed started his electoral journey from his birth place in 1962 winning the seat under DNC and retaining it in 1967. In 1972, he became a Cabinet Minster and also Congress party’s leader in the Legislative Council. In 1975 he was made the leader of the Congress Legislature Party and president of Pradesh Congress but lost the next two elections. In 2002 when Mufti became the Chief Minister, with just 16 seats in the State Assembly, in alliance with Congress, Jammu and Kashmir was witnessing problems on many fronts. Personal liberties were restricted and army was in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation with Pakistan in the aftermath of the attack on Parliament. Seen as a visionary leader, a smart political strategist and masterful politician, Mufti’s arrival on the stage and his deft handling of the delicate political equations resulted in an almost instant change in the situation, both within the State and in the regional context.