Iltija Mufti, who hoped to step into mother Mehbooba’s shoes, concedes defeat from family stronghold

The seat was previously represented by both her grandfather Mufti Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and her mother Mehbooba Mufti.

Even as she trailed behind by just over 4,000 votes, the Mufti family’s 37-year-old scion Iltija Mufti was the first to throw in the towel Tuesday, conceding defeat to National Conference’s Bashir Ahmad Shah Veeri at Srigufwara-Bijbehara assembly seat.

Significantly, Bijbehara in Anantnag district is an assembly seat previously represented by Iltija’s grandfather and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mufti Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and her mother Mehbooba Mufti.

This is Iltija’s first election. The hard-fought campaign saw her invoke the party’s legacy in “fighting for the rights of the people of J&K” and how they paid the price for their alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2014.

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A fierce critic of the BJP, Iltija came on to the scene after her mother and party president Mehbooba Mufti’s detention with other mainstream Kashmiri leaders after the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019. While she was outside Kashmir at the time, she took charge of her mother’s X handle (then called Twitter) and vocally criticised the complete embargo on communication and movement as it existed then.

Last year, Iltija was elevated as the media in-charge for former J&K CM Mehbooba. While the latter remained firm on her resolve not to contest assembly polls in J&K so long as it remained a union territory, the party fielded Iltija in this election.

After having campaigned for her mother when she unsuccessfully fought parliamentary polls from Anantnag, Iltija similarly lobbied for other party candidates, not only creating the perception that she was connecting with women voters in the Valley but also infusing new energy into the party.