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People's Democratic Party leader Iltija Mufti, who lost in her electoral debut from Bijbehara seat in south Kashmir, on Tuesday denied that her party lost because of alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party and said there was assault on the PDP.
She said multiple factors led to her defeat at the hands of National Conference leader Bashir Ahmad Veeri.
Iltija, daughter of PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, said she took a risk which did not pay off.
"It was not just about me. There were multiple factors."
"Our party was broken, we lost our seats to NC because in the valley, the people choose either the NC or the PDP. This time, they decided to give NC a chance, and the benefit of the PDP being torn apart was reaped by the NC," she told PTI Videos in Srinagar.
Iltija said the PDP suffered defeat and could manage only three seats in the valley because there was an "assault" on the party.
"Twenty-five of our MLAs, two Rajya Sabha members and many ministers were taken out from the party and with those, our cadre also left. It is not because of the alliance with the BJP. There was an assault on our party," she added.
After the 2014 J&K elections threw a hung assembly, the PDP and the BJP forged a post-poll alliance to govern the erstwhile state between 2015 and 2018.
On her electoral fight, Iltija said she knew it was a risk.
"But why should not I have taken such a risk? Why should I have gone to a seat where there was 100 per cent safety, I am not a leader.
"I took a risk, it did not pay off, it is okay that the people did not accept me. I am (PDP founder and former chief minister) Mufti's (Mohammad Sayeed) granddaughter who struggled a lot, but still established the PDP and broke NC's back," she said.
Asked if she would take the electoral plunge once again, Iltija said five years is a long time.
"We do not know if I am alive by then, you do not know. We are human beings, we do not know what course our life will take."
"But, I am a fighter. I am not afraid. I am very strong," she said.
She asked the Centre to let the elected government in J-K run smoothly.
"There should be no hanky-panky," she warned.
The PDP leader lost to Veeri by a margin of 9,770 votes.