‘Mehbooba could be better CM’

SRINAGAR: Mehbooba Mufti 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 contradictions in the PDP-BJP alliance, the alliance of opposites could become exacerbated.

“One hopes there will be continuity and that this will be an opportunity for the PDP to consolidate itself around Mehbooba, Siddiq Wahid, well known Kashmir scholar, said. 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 56 years old, she is not a spring chicken anymore and she is no longer the fiery Mehbooba of old, a local newspaper reporter described her. 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.”

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