“I would have announced a young candidate (from Anantnag) but Delhi has focused all its efforts on south Kashmir. I am a fighter and accept the challenge. I appeal to all Kashmiri, our Gujjar and Pahari brothers as well as Sikh and Hindu brothers to send that voice which would represent them without fear to Parliament,” Mufti stated whereas saying her candidature.

She additionally made it clear that the PDP would assist the Congress, its INDIA bloc ally, in Jammu and reiterated that she was seeking to ally with the NC however was compelled to go solo after its leaders publicly questioned the “PDP’s existence”. She stated, “We had left the decision to Farooq Abdullah. We would not mind even if they had contested all the seats but they should have at least consulted us. They should not have demeaned our party and workers by saying they will see our behaviour in the Lok Sabha polls before deciding on the alliance for the Assembly elections.”

Mufti additionally hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for referring to the Congress manifesto because the “Muslim League manifesto”, saying that whereas the grand outdated occasion talks of jobs, farmers’ welfare, and stipends to youth, the BJP retains “repeating Pakistan” as they don’t have anything else to say.

Here are the PDP’s three candidates:

Mehbooba Mufti

The former Jammu and Kashmir CM is the glue that binds the PDP collectively. The 64-year-old is the primary and solely girl CM of the erstwhile state and is credited with reviving the political fortunes of her father and former CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

The PDP chief started her profession with the Congress and was elected as an MLA from Bijbehara in south Kashmir for the primary time in 1996 – the primary polls within the Valley after the 1987 Assembly elections, which had been marred by allegations of widespread rigging.

She then give up the Congress together with her father and floated the PDP the place her “soft separatism” and attain amongst individuals is believed to be the explanation for the occasion gaining acceptability, particularly in south Kashmir.

When the PDP first got here to energy in 2002, Mehbooba was elected as MLA from Pahalgam. In 2004, she received the parliamentary polls from Anantnag (because the constituency was then known as) and within the Assembly elections 4 years later, she received from Wachi in Shopian.

In 2009, Mehbooba changed her father on the helm of the PDP and 5 years later, she was elected to Parliament once more from Anantnag. Following Sayeed’s loss of life in 2016, when he was heading the state authorities in alliance with the BJP, she took over as the primary girl CM of the state.

During her stint as CM, Mehbooba held her fort in opposition to BJP ministers in the course of the Kathua episode. When the BJP walked out of the federal government in 2018, her recognition was at its lowest as a consequence of an increase in civilian killings. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, she contested from Anantnag and completed third behind the NC’s Hasnain Masoodi and the Congress’s Ghulam Ahmad Mir.

Hailing from Bijbehara in south Kashmir, Mehbooba is the one “local” within the fray in Anantnag and is seen because the PDP’s finest guess. The seat is seemingly headed for a triangular combat with Mufti’s entry. She will tackle Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) and Gujjar chief Mian Altaf of the NC. The BJP has but to announce its candidate and is more likely to again Azad.

Waheed ur Rehman Parra

Parra’s initiation into politics was by way of his grandfather who was a detailed aide of Sayeed. He formally joined the PDP in 2013 and was subsequently appointed its youth president.

His candidature is being seen because of the delimitation of parliamentary seats in 2022, following which six Assembly segments of south Kashmir, the place Parra holds sway, grew to become a part of the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat.

Seen as having wonderful organisation expertise, 37-year-old Parra was publicly praised by former Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh for his youth engagement initiatives within the Valley. As the secretary of the sports activities council, he was seen to be a key participant in waning youth away from violence and into the mainstream.

Following the abrogation of Article 370 and days after he filed his nomination for the District Development Council (DDC) polls, Parra was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a case of alleged terror funding. He received from Pulwama, his dwelling turf, whereas in jail. But regardless of courtroom orders, Parra was not allowed to take oath as a DDC member after his launch on bail. He has been credited with spreading the occasion’s grassroots community, particularly in south Kashmir.

On Parra’s candidature from Srinagar, the place he’s more likely to tackle NC vice-president Omar Abdullah, the previous CM stated there was no larger instance than him if one wished to see what the youth of Kashmir had confronted and tolerated, particularly since 2019. “He was arrested and tortured. His father had cancer but they (authorities) did not allow him to go and see him. They also prevented him from visiting his nephew, who was fighting for his life in Delhi,” Mehbooba stated.

Fayaz Ahmad Mir

Fayaz (47) misplaced the 2014 Assembly elections from Kupwara to Bashir Ahmad Dar of the Peoples Conference by a wafer-thin margin of 133 votes. He was appointed the Rajya Sabha MP in 2015 and his relations with the PDP turned bitter following the abrogation of Article 370.

He was later expelled and joined the Peoples Conference, a celebration identified to have a robust presence in Kupwara. In September 2023, following a tumultuous tenure within the occasion, he give up citing “family reasons”.

Mir returned to the PDP in March and might be within the fray from a seat the place the occasion stood fourth in 2019. Mehbooba stated Fayaz had expressed remorse and returned to the occasion. “When (Article) 370 was abrogated, I asked him to resign from the Upper House. He did not and I expelled him from the party. He has now returned and has an identity among people,” she stated.

While he isn’t anticipated to be among the many frontrunners within the combat for Baramulla, his entry is more likely to dent the prospects of Peoples Conference candidate Sajad Lone.