Accompanied by his wife, Baramulla district development council (DDC) chairperson Safeena Baig, he visited Mehbooba’s residence at Nowgam and stayed there for around three hours
In what is being seen as a “big political development” in Kashmir politics, former J&K deputy chief minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig visited Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti’s house on Wednesday, setting off speculations that he might be looking to return to the party fold.
Accompanied by his wife, Baramulla district development council (DDC) chairperson Safeena Baig, he visited Mehbooba’s residence at Nowgam and stayed there for around three hours.
Sources close to the PDP chief said that although the meeting was a casual one, politics was also discussed.
However, the PDP president’s daughter Iltija Mufti was quick to nix the speculations, saying that Muzaffar Baig and his wife Safina Baig had come to enquire about the health of her grandmother.
Muzaffar, the former MP from Baramulla, had co-founded the PDP along with Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. However, after Mufti Mohammad Sayeed died in 2016, differences grew between Baig and Mehbooba Mufti . He left the party, along with Safeena, after the latter was denied DDC ticket from Sangrama by PDP in 2020.
PDP spokesperson termed the meeting as casual. “It was casual meeting to enquire about the health of Mehbooba’s mother, who was recently operated upon in Chennai.”
“It was a courtesy call but politics was also discussed,” said a senior PDP leader close to Mehbooba.
The former deputy CM and Safeena, who was the chief of PDP’s women wing, are currently not affiliated with any political party. However, they are said to have good connections in New Delhi.
Muzaffar won Lok Sabha elections from Baramulla on PDP ticket in 2014. He was conferred the Padma Bhushan, the country’s third-highest civilian award, in 2020.
After being denied the PDP ticket, Safeena won DDC elections as an independent candidate. She was also elected as the DDC chairperson with the help of the three Peoples Conference (PC) DDC members. Apni Party’s two DDC members supported Safeena as well.
Joining of Baigs could strength the PDP in north Kashmir where party has lost many senior leaders in the last six years. Recently, multiple leaders, including former ministers, who had left the PDP and joined other political parties, had established contact with the party and expressed their desire to rejoin. PDP leaders said that the decision had been left with Mehbooba.
”Muzaffar Baig sahab and @SafinaMBaig ji were kind enough to call on my grandmother who recently underwent knee surgery. Mischievous statements that I never made were attributed to me… Glad it has been withdrawn,” Iltija Mufti, who is also the media adviser to the PDP president, said in a post on micro-blogging platform “X”.
