Safina Baig, former chairperson of Baramulla District Development Council and wife of PDP co-founder Muzaffar Hussain Baig, attended the National Conference at the party headquarters on Wednesday. Safina, who came with her supporters, joined the party in the presence of National Conference (NC) President Dr Farooq Abdullah, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Rural Development Minister Javed Ahmed Dar, senior leaders Ali Muhammad Sagar, Chaudhary Muhammad Ramzan and others. Safina's joining the National Conference is being seen as a major boost for the NC in Baramulla district, where the party had won 6 out of 7 assembly seats in the 2024 elections.
Safina's husband Muzaffar Hussain Baig, one of the founders of the PDP, had served as the deputy CM in the PDP-Congress coalition government when Ghulam Nabi Azad headed the alliance. Muzaffar Baig won the 2002 and 2008 assembly elections from Baramulla and also won the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Baramulla parliamentary seat.
Safina, a lawyer by profession, had contested the 2024 Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections as an independent candidate from Wagoora-Kreeri constituency of Baramulla. Although she could not win. Before joining the National Conference, she was associated with the PDP and the People's Conference led by Sajjad Lone. Safina has also led the Jammu and Kashmir Haj Committee. The local leadership believes that Safina's joining the party will strengthen the party in North Kashmir, where her family has dominance.
Safina had won the 2020 DDC elections as an independent candidate and then won the post of president with the support of the People's Conference and her party. Although he and Muzaffar Baig were associated with Sajjad Lone's People's Conference for some time and even supported him in his Lok Sabha election campaign, they later distanced themselves from the party.
If we talk about Abdullah family, the National Conference led by them has been a major party in Kashmir politics for decades. Its electoral strategies often include forming alliances and involving influential local leaders to strengthen its presence. This move by Safina Baig is part of this strategy, which will potentially increase the reach and popularity of the party in Baramulla district and surrounding areas.
