Iltija Mufti: ‘It is good J&K has a govt with full majority. We saw the dilemma we had with 28 seats’

Excerpts:

* What are some things that you think did not work for you as well as the party?

I think I came in at a time which was not only turbulent for the state but even for the party. By turbulent, most people would assume that I am speaking about the alliance with the BJP, but I am talking about the events following August 2019. A concerted effort was made by the Centre to break our party and it has had a certain impact.

With regard to Bijbehara, I was contesting a seat which we had won four times consecutively and there was a considerable amount of anti-incumbency. In the other seats too, we have been wiped out from South Kashmir. As people understood that the PDP was at its weakest and after seeing what a fractured mandate can do in 2014, they decided to elect a government which would do justice to the mandate.

In a way, it is good that they elected a government with full majority. We saw the dilemma we fall into with 28 seats. We lost then even though we won.

In hindsight, a lot of things worked against me. There was anti-incumbency. But I feel Veeri sahib’s amazing, incredible, developmental work worked against me. There is so much factionalism in the party that somewhere there is dissonance. I am a new face, who has worked with my workers for only the past four weeks. Even that may have played a role (in my defeat).

* You also campaigned for other party candidates. What do you make of the PDP’s performance?

The fact that I was able to give them hope in times of despair gives me a lot of encouragement. There could have been a very adverse reaction from people, but if you saw my campaign, women, men and children came out in large numbers wherever I went. I think I got a lot of love and respect. The cadre felt there was someone for them. The party kind of got back on its feet. We were otherwise being written off.

If you see Ganderbal, we were in a neck-and-neck competition with a former CM (Omar Abdullah). That being said, I hope I was able to play a positive role.

* What is the way forward for the PDP from here?

Electoral politics is often seen in the prism of victory and defeat. Our party has not just lost the election but has been dismantled. It is going to take time to rebuild, have cadre and leaders. There were many constituencies where we did not have candidates and got a nominee at the last minute.

The PDP has to bounce back and, some day, we will get our act together.

* What did your mother say to you (after the defeat)?

My mother is the most supportive person. I think she had a hunch that we were going to perform badly in South Kashmir and had prepared me for it. She is a very practical and realistic person.

I was prepared as well as somewhere at the back of my mind I knew I would lose.

* What is the most important lesson from these polls? What will be the incoming government’s biggest responsibility?

The people expect a lot as (since 2019) they have felt disempowered, dispossessed. They feel they are losing their lands, jobs and resources. This government will have to walk the talk.

We know this Assembly is going to be a disempowered one and they will have to speak out strongly.