Mehbooba Mufti re-elected as PDP president

Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti was on Monday unanimously re-elected as president of the PDP for a three-year term.

Mufti’s name was proposed by senior leader Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura and seconded by Khurshid Alam, a party spokesperson said after the election.

Senior PDP leader Abdul Rehman Veeri was the chairman of party election board, he said.

The spokesperson said the party’s electoral college in Jammu had earlier unanimously re-elected Mufti as party chief.

Senior leader Surinder Chaudhary was the returning officer for the election.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was formed in 1998 by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as a regional alternative to the National Conference.

The party grew from strength to strength during the last two decades with many political stalwarts joining it. Several technocrats and bureaucrats, after retiring from service, also joined the PDP over the years.

However, the party was on the verge of split after the PDP-BJP coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir fell in June 2018.

While Mufti has managed to retain the grip over the party, most of the prominent leaders including some founding members have left over the last two years.