Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 27: Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the PDP patron who will take oath as new Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on March 1, had started his political career in 1950 when he joined the National Conference. However, he fell out with the party leaders and joined the Indian National Congress (INC).
He was known among one of the few leaders in Jammu and Kashmir who made INC a major political force in the State, opposing the NC. He became a State Minister in the Congress Party Government in1971. His political success saw steep downturn when he lost two consecutive elections. However, he kept on his good work and organised the people to uproot the NC Government in 1984.
However, Sayeed’s association with the Congress came to an end in 1987 when he joined Jan Morcha, led by V P Singh. Subsequently, he went on to become the Union Home Minister in 1989.
Sayeed joined the Congress again when it was led by Narasimha Rao. However, he left the party in 1999 and went on to form his own party in the same year. He named his party as Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party (JKPDP).
After its formation, his political career started to blossom. In 2002, Mufti became Chief Minister of the State (his party won 18 constituencies and formed an alliance with the INC to assume state power from October 2002 to November 2005).
By the year 2004, PDP had one MP in Rajya Sabha and one MP in Lok Sabha. It was an important ally of United Progressive Alliance l. The prospects of Mufti’s party started to shine again in the Lok Sabha election of 2014 when it won three seats.
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