The Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is a state political party in Jammu and Kashmir, India. The PDP was headed and founded by Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. His daughter, Mehbooba Mufti, succeeded him as party leader and as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir following his death in January 2016. The party is a member of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration electoral alliance. The party is also a member of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance since its founding on 18 June 2023.
Currently Mehbooba Mufti remains as the President of the party, with Ghulam Nabi Lone and Mehboob Beg serve as its General Secretary and General Secretary (Org) respectively. Waheed Para currently serves as its Youth Wing President
History
The PDP was founded in 1999 by the former Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. It captured power in Jammu and Kashmir in October 2002 Assembly elections. In 2004, it had one member each in the Lok Sabha and in the Rajya Sabha. It was a member of the ruling United Progressive Alliance until the 2009 general election.
Sayeed headed the PDP-Indian National Congress Coalition Government between October 2002 and November 2005, and he was the party’s Patron until his death on 7 January 2016. The PDP is now headed by Mehbooba Mufti, Sayeed’s daughter.
The PDP operates on the ideology of self-rule, as distinctly different from the issues of autonomy. It believes that self-rule as a political philosophy, as opposed to autonomy, ensures the empowerment of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, while further engaging in debates over new political territoriality of Jammu and Kashmir.
In the 2014 general election, three of its members were elected to the Lok Sabha. Its strength in the Legislative Assembly is 28 and in the Rajya Sabha is two. The party ran a Coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir with the Bharatiya Janata Party until the BJP abandoned the coalition on June 19, 2018, due to concerns about terrorism and radicalization in Kashmir.
Election results
| Year | Election | Seats Won | Change in Seat | % of votes | votes swing | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 Indian general election | 12th Lok Sabha | 0 | ||||
| 2002 Legislative Assembly election | 8th Assembly | 16 | ||||
| 2004 Indian general election | 14th Lok Sabha | 1 | 22.02 |  2 |
– | |
| 2008 Legislative Assembly election | 9th Assembly | 21 | 5 | 5 |
– | |
| 2009 Indian general election | 15th Lok Sabha | 0 |  2 |
– | ||
| 2014 Indian general election | 16th Lok Sabha | 3 | 3 | 20.50 | ||
| 2014 Legislative Assembly election | 10th Assembly | 28 | 5 | 22.7 | 7 |
– |
| 2020 District Development Council | 1st Council | 27 | 27 | 3.9 | 27 |
– |
List of ministers
Chief
| No | Name | Constituency | Term of office | Tenure length | Assembly | Party | Governor | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mufti Mohammad Sayeed |  |
Pahalgam | 2 November 2002 | 2 November 2005 | 3 years, 0 days | People’s Democratic Party | Girish Chandra Saxena | |
| 2 | Mufti Mohammad Sayeed | |
Anantnag | 1 March 2015 | 7 January 2016 | 312 days | People’s Democratic Party | N. N. Vohra | |
| 3 | Mehbooba Mufti |  |
Anantnag | 4 April 2016 | 20 June 2018 | 2 years, 77 days | People’s Democratic Party | N. N. Vohra | |
Deputy chief
| No | Name | Constituency | Term of office | Tenure length | Assembly | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Muzaffar Hussain Baig | Pahalgam | 2 November 2006 | 11 July 2008 | 1 year, 252 days | 10th |