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Mehbooba Mufti, Kashmir hopes the daughter can fill her father's big shoes

By FnF Desk | PUBLISHED: 09, Jan 2016, 13:51 pm IST | UPDATED: 10, Jan 2016, 13:39 pm IST

Mehbooba Mufti, Kashmir hopes the daughter can fill her father's big shoes Srinagar: She is all set to become the first woman CM of Jammu and Kashmir but the day after her father's death Mehbooba Mufti remained closeted in her home, refusing to take oath as CM until the 4 day mourning period is over.

The Mufti home on Gupkar Road is swarming with mourners, many in tears, shaking their heads, all expressing their shock at Mufti's sudden death. Mehbooba remained shut away from the crowds, not meeting anyone except close family and associates.

"She has very big shoes to fill," says Raza Haidar, a schoolteacher who has come to pay his condolences at the Mufti residence, "but there is a lot of sympathy for her. She must now not be her usual moody and impulsive self, but try to be calm and moderate like her father. Mufti Sahab had been holding her hand for the last two years teaching her how to govern, now she must keep up her father's work."

However there are some anxieties about the future as well. There are many who feel that the contradcitions in the PDP-BJP alliance, the alliance of opposites could become exacerbated. Says Siddiq Wahid, well known Kashmir scholar, "one hopes there will be continuity and that this will be an opportunity for the PDP to consolidate itself around Mehbooba.

It is well known that she was not a supporter of the BJP-PDP alliance, she is much more of a mass leader than someone who is used to sitting across the table and negotiating terms. She is also fairly inexperienced as she has never held an administrative post. Even while her father was CM she remained very much in the shadows."

J&K deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh visited Mehbooba and held long consultations. Ram madhav also visited, one of the very few people she agreed to meet. Will Mehbooba be able to maintain the BJP-PDP alliance the way Mufti was able to?

Shameem Meraj editor Kashmir Monitor says we should not judge Mehbooba too harshly. "She is 56 years old, she is not a spring chicken anymore and she is no longer the fiery Mehbooba of old. She is much calmer, much more moderate, she has been a parliamentarian. The BJP PDP alliance will get a fresh start and she may even be a better CM than her father."

In Lal Chowk, residents of Srinagar are not so optimistic. "There are two camps in the PDP, one that supports the alliance and the other that is deadly opposed. Parra and Muzzaffar Husain Beg have their own ambitions.

Without the wise and sagacious presence of Mufti, we have to see how she manages it," says Mirza Sheikh a shop owner. "But we will support her becauase Mufti died with his boots on. He was working when he collapsed, so his work was left half done. Says Ghulam Ashfaq a student, "Things are not good in Kashmir right now. Many young people regard militants as heroes. While in the 90s the sentiment was political, now the azaadi sentiment is ideological. Anti India sentiment is high. Mehbooba will have to make the government work otherwise Kashmir will face a bad time."

But in the Mufti home, there are high hopes of mehbooba. Says Naeem Akhtar, education minister and a close aide of the Muftis, "Mehbooba and Mufti saab had a very unique relationship. They spent 24 hours together, they fought, they argued, but they built the PDP together, they brought democratic competitive politics to Kashmir. They worked as one, so now one without the other is incomplete. But I am sure Mehbooba will not let us feel the absence of Mufti saab."

Akhtar says he is heartened by the sympathy shown by the BJP. "Modi has shown a lot of personal sympathy after the death. The reach out to Pakistan has also meant a lot in kashmir. Many believe it is because of Mufti Sahab's unflinching commitment to Indo-Pak reconciliation."

Agrees Ali Mahmud, deputy CM of Telengana who is here to pay a condolence visit. "Mehbooba comes from a political family, she has learnt from her father."

On the streets of Srinagar, they are rooting for Mehbooba and there are hopes she will be a high achiever. Sympathy runs high for Mufti's daughter.

"We hope she will be able to achieve something as India's first Muslim woman chief minister," says Ali Mian, who runs a local tea shop, serving girda and noon chai. "But the next four to five months are crucial, if she can manage them she will be in a strong position. The PDP should stick behind Mehbooba and not split into camps." #Source: ToI, Sagarika Ghose
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