Gandhi's flying into Srinagar to meet Mehbooba assumes significance as there are reports that the PDP and the BJP are bargaining afresh over the formation of a new government.
'My mother feels it will be tough and emotional for her to enter an assembly which has essentially been reduced to a municipality now.' 'My opinion is that even if it is a municipality one cannot cede that space to the BJP.'
The challenges will be the real test of Mehbooba's leadership qualities and political acumen as she does not enjoy her father's stature and vast political experience.
Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP accused National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah of leaving them "no option".
A voter turnout of 10.82 per cent was recorded till 9 am on Saturday in 58 constituencies in six states and two Union territories where polling is underway in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
Political parties and leaders wait with bated breath for the Haryana and Jammu-Kashmir assembly poll results on Tuesday.
'If the country felt very strongly about the BJP, then why did the country not put money where the mouth is?'
Although Omar Abdullah has survived as Jammu and Kashmir chief minister he has been unable to govern, People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti tells Sheela Bhatt in an exclusive interview.
The two leaders discussed steps needed to bring peace back to the Valley, where student protests against police actions have been gaining ground in recent days.
In a significant political development, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah announced on Thursday that an alliance with the Congress was finalised for all 90 assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir, which is going for its maiden assembly polls after being reorganised into a Union Territory.
The PDP looks a distant third in the race, observes Mohammed Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir politics.
Soon after assuming charge, J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti promised a transparent, accountable and responsive government.
'You have to fight a lot of forces. To fight these forces and ensure control of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, it is important the central government should fully stand behind us.'
PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti on Monday stood by her father's controversial statement.
'There is no link between Article 370 abrogation and a rise in voting percentage.'
Ruling People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti on Monday escaped an attempt on her life as militants opened fire on her motorcade near Aishmuqam in south Kashmir's Anantnag district, official sources said.
'The wave of terrorism is over in Kashmir. Local people do not support it.'
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday asserted that 'something major' will take place, after Lok Sabha results are out, in Bihar where Chief Minister Nitish Kumar seemed to be 'not going along well' with ally Bharatiya Janata Party.
She said attempts were being made to weaken the people of Kashmir politically and economically.
An article published in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece, Saamana, said that Mehbboba's links with separatists in Kashmir have always remained a debatable issue.
'I've been illegally detained yet again. Since two days, J-K admin has refused to allow me to visit @parawahid's family in Pulwama. BJP Ministers and their puppets are allowed to move around in every corner of Kashmir but security is a problem only in my case,' Mufti tweeted in English and Urdu.
Although the Supreme Court has mandated the Centre to conduct the polls by the end of September, a spate of terrorist attacks in J&K could cause delays.
The ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) president and MP, Mehbooba Mufti, will visit Pakistan later this month to attend the Pugwash conference. Mehbooba is expected to arrive Islamabad on March 27 to attend the two-day Pugwash conference on "regional stability".
The EC said polling percentage in the Anantnag-Rajouri seat in Jammu and Kashmir is the highest in 40 years.
An approximate voter turnout of 59.06 per cent was recorded in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Saturday in 58 constituencies across six states and two Union territories with the polling percentage in the Jangal Mahal region of West Bengal touching 78.19.
Breaking her silence on the series of allegations levelled by her former ally, the BJP, Mehbooba said it was sad to see the saffron party disown its own initiative and label it a "soft approach".
Jammu and Kashmir Bharatiya Janata Party chief Ravinder Raina is going to miss voting for his party in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as the party has not fielded any candidate from his home town which falls in Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary constituency.
'From what I know of her,' says Mohammad Sayeed Malik -- the distinguished doyen of Kashmir commentators -- 'Mehbooba will not take too long to recover.' 'How much room she can then find to maneuver in the valley's extremely harsh political climate only time can tell.'
Mehbooba Mufti, the former chief minister, was detained on August 5, the day the Centre announced abrogation of special status to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370.
Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday appealed to Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde to remove the Central Reserve Police Force camp at Gagran in Shopian district where four persons were killed in firing by the force personnel on Saturday.
Invoking Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Narendra Modi, the Peoples Democratic Party on Wednesday appeared to be giving clear signals that it may not be averse to discussions on government formation with the Bharatiya Janata Party, which welcomed the gesture.
'We put the seed of BJP's ideology in Jammu, watered it, nurtured it for four decades and when it was time to reap the fruits of those efforts, the fruits are being sold out to the very same people who worked hard to uproot this tree.' 'Shockingly, our own people are letting this happen and nobody from Delhi bothers to even listen to us.'
Besides the national capital, polling will be held Saturday in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, all 10 seats of Haryana, eight seats each in Bihar and West Bengal, six seats in Odisha, four seats in Jharkhand and one seat in Jammu and Kashmir. Simultaneously, polling will be held for 42 assembly constituencies in Odisha.
The PDP chief visited New Delhi on Monday and has reportedly called a meeting of party legislators to brief them about her talks with BJP leaders.
Their leader is now Lalu Prasad Yadav, a convict in several corruption cases, he added.
National Conference general secretary and former minister Ali Mohammed Sagar, who wields a support base in downtown city, was served with a PSA notice public order by the authorities.
Mehbooba Mufti, president of People's Democratic Party, claimed that she has surrendered her security, and so has her party legislators.
Separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq (both of separate Hurriyat Conference factions) and Yasin Malik of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front issued a joint statement here, rubbishing her and her offer.
Kashmir's gutsy leader reflects on her personal struggles, political agenda and hopes for the strife-torn state
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