Separatist leader Syed Salim Gilani on Sunday joined Mehbooba Mufti-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and is likely to contest the Assembly election from Srinagar's downtown Khanyar seat.
Mehbooba may keep herself away from contesting the upcoming elections in J&K.
This was the first meeting of the PAC after the defeat of Mehbooba on Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat and also the INDIA bloc disowning her party by refusing to assign her party even a single seat in the elections.
Engineer Rashid's lead of votes against Omar Abdullah has crossed one lakh as counting of votes was underway.
Mehbooba is facing a tough challenge from the National Conference (NC) candidate and religious leader of Gujjar community Mian Altaf and also Apni Party's Zafar Iqbal Manhas, who is being backed by the BJP that had earlier formed a coalition government with Mehbooba.
Supporters of separatists and terrorists tried to create a scare among the electorate by pelting stones at several polling stations on Monday evening.
Madni said that the Government of India cannot ignore the mounting concerns of the people of the state about the deteriorating health of the JKLF Chief.
Mehbooba, in her rallies, was stressing that her father Mufti Sayeed had formed the coalition government with the BJP with the hope that Modi, with the massive mandate he got in the 2014 elections, would carry forward the peace initiatives of Vajpayee with Pakistan.
In her election rallies in South Kashmir, Mehbooba has warned that threats to abrogate the Articles 370 and 35A and also Modi government’s “muscular approach” towards Kashmir will turn the situation more gruesome and worrying.
Mehbooba had gone to a shrine at Khirram in Anantnag district to pay her obeisance and was returning to Bijbehara when the incident took place.
