Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed resumed work at the Secretariat in Srinagar on Tuesday, dispelling notions that he was taking a backseat in the government, even as concerns about his health persisted.
Mr. Sayeed was reportedly treated for about two weeks in Mumbai and Bengaluru.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Sayeed’s daughter Mehbooba Mufti, who also heads the party, rubbished the reports of ill-health saying “with God’s grace all is well. I can’t stop people from speculating.”
A senior official who met Mr. Sayeed at the Civil Secretariat said that he has no “serious ailment.”
“He is as good as anyone of his age. He is agile,” the official said
But the buzz about succession persists in the J&K Secretariat. A senior bureaucrat said the PDP leaders are mentally ready to face Mr. Sayeed’s departure from politics and have already agreed upon letting Ms. Mehbooba take over the chief ministerial berth. And Ms. Mehbooba has taken an active interest in governance.
“Madam [Ms. Mehbooba Mufti] can’t work with the current Cabinet,” said a senior official in the J&K Secretariat who works closely with a senior PDP Minister.
“Most of the [Cabinet] Ministers have failed to live up to Mufti Sahib’s expectations.”
Ms. Mehbooba, according to the official, is going to bring back two PDP parliamentarians Muzzafar Hussain Beigh and Tariq Hameed Karra in the party’s decision-making circle. In the previous PDP-Congress government (2002-2008) Mr. Beigh served as a Law Minister and Mr. Karra as a Finance Minister.
Former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday tweeted about Mr. Sayeed’s health and prayed for his recovery.
