PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti's daughter Iltija Mufti, contesting her first assembly polls from the high-profile Srigufwara-Bijbehara in south Kashmir appeared to be conceding defeat as she said she accepts "the verdict of the people".
At the time of writing this report, she was trailing the National Conference's Bashir Ahmad Veeri by over 7,000 votes. The BJP's Sofi Yousif is placed third, trailing by over 24,000 votes.
Taking to X, the 37-year-old PDP leader thanked party workers who "worked so hard throughout this campaign."
I accept the verdict of the people. The love & affection I received from everyone in Bijbehara will always stay with me. Gratitude to my PDP workers who worked so hard throughout this campaign 💚
— Iltija Mufti (@IltijaMufti_) October 8, 2024
The Srigufwara-Bijbehara, which has been a PDP borough for the past few decades, had gone to polls on September 18 in the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir elections. There was a voter turnout of 60.43 per cent in the constituency.
In the 2014 polls, PDP's Abdul Rehman Bhat had defeated Veeri.
One of the reasons cited for Iltija Mufti's defeat is that she failed to spend much time in the constituency even as her party was banking on the development works it carried out there to emerge victorious.
However, the NC has been making inroads into the constituency over the past few years and the party decided to go with Veeri, although he had faced defeat twice in the constituency.
