Mehbooba Mufti Sayed (born 22 May 1959) is an Indian politician and leader of the Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party (PDP). She served as the 9th chief minister of the erstwhile state Jammu and Kashmir from 4 April 2016 to 19 June 2018.
Mufti was the first woman to hold the office of chief minister in the Jammu and Kashmir. She formed a coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir jointly with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The coalition was termed as "Himalayan blunder" by the Indian National Congress. She resigned in June 2018 after the BJP withdrew from the coalition.
Mufti was the president of the PDP and was a member of the Indian parliament, representing Anantnag in the 16th Lok Sabha before she was sworn in as the chief minister of the Jammu and Kashmir. She also represented Anantnag in the 14th Lok Sabha (2004–09) and has also been a Leader of Opposition in Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.
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Early life and career
She is the daughter of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Gulshan Ara, born in 1959 in Akhran Nowpora, J&K, India. She graduated in English literature from Government College for Women in Jammu, and obtained a law degree from the University of Kashmir. After 1989, she moved to New Delhi where she worked at the Bombay Mercantile bank and later at East West Airlines, before moving back to J&K. Mehbooba Mufti married Javed Iqbal Shah, who is the cousin of her father, in 1984. However, the couple later divorced. Shah is a political analyst and animal-rights activist. They have two daughters, Iltija and Irtiqa.