Election on Dec 2
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 30: Chief Minister and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti is all set to be re-elected as the party president for sixth term in a row for next three years on December 2, the date of election.
Re-election of Mehbooba as the PDP president will be preceded by the party’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC) meeting on December 1. The PAC is highest decision making body of the PDP, which is in power in Jammu and Kashmir along with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The Electoral College for the PDP president comprised about 300 members but, according to party insiders, Mehbooba is likely to be re-elected as the party president unanimously as no other party leader has expressed desire to contest.
The party has designated veteran PDP leader and Works and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Abdul Rehman Veeri as Returning Officer and Fallail Singh, veteran party leader as Election Observer for the election of the PDP president
When contacted, Fallail Singh told the Excelsior that election for the PDP president is being held in “complete transparent and democratic manner” with zonal and district presidents too being part of the State Electoral College.
Other members of the Electoral College, as per Fallail Singh, included three Members of Parliament of the party including one from Lok Sabha and two from Rajya Sabha, all legislators (both MLAs and MLCs), State general secretaries, secretaries, senior functionaries and district and zonal presidents.
Party insiders said the process for the party president election had been set into motion a couple of months back with the elections of zonal, block and district presidents, which would culminate on December 2 with the elections of the State party president.
According to the insiders, as there is no other party leader in the fray, Mehbooba Mufti would be declared elected unanimously as the State party president of the PDP on December 2 by the Returning Officer and the Election Observer.
Party insiders said top leaders of the party including members of the Electoral College have started reaching Jammu, the winter capital of the State, for the election of the PDP president.
After the election, Mehbooba would address members of the Electoral College and other senior functionaries. Prior to that, she would also address the members of Political Affairs Committee tomorrow.
This will be for the sixth time in a row since 2003 when Mehbooba Mufti will be re-elected as the PDP president. This would be her sixth term as the party chief.
After being floated in 1999, former Chief Minister and Mehbooba’s father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was elected as the first PDP president. However, after Mufti Sayeed became the Chief Minister heading PDP-Congress coalition Government in November 2002, Mehbooba took over command of the PDP in 2003 and continued as the party chief since then, playing major role in the State politics.
Mehbooba got the distinction of being first woman Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir when she was sworn-in as head of the PDP-BJP coalition Government on April 4, 2016.
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