Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday called for a unified political front to expedite the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood. Mufti has written to political and civil society leaders across the Union Territory, urging them to set aside differences for a coordinated outreach to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah to resume meaningful dialogue.Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday wrote to political rivals, urging them to set aside differences for a coordinated outreach to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah to resume the dialogue on statehood. (HT file photo)In her letter, Mufti reached out to chief minister Omar Abdullah, BJP leader of opposition Sunil Sharma, J&K Congress president Tariq Hameed Karra, CPI(M) leader MY Tarigami, People’s Conference chairman Sajad Gani Lone, Awami Ittehad Party MP Engineer Rashid, J&K AAP president Mehraj Malik, PDF chairman Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen, J&K National Panthers Party president Harsh Dev Singh, Shiv Sena unit president Manish Sahni, Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti president Sanjay Tickoo, and Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee chairman Jaspal Singh.PDP spokesman Mohit Bhan said that Mufti views a collective voice as essential to representing the aspirations, grievances, and concerns of the region at the national level.The push for unity follows public backlash and social media criticism targeting J&K’s political leaders — particularly the ruling National Conference (NC), the opposition BJP, and the PDP — for failing to strongly advocate for statehood. The frustration peaked following last month’s breakthrough in talks between the central government and Ladakh leaders, represented by the Leh Apex Body and Kargil Democratic Alliance. In those negotiations, the Centre agreed in principle to unique constitutional safeguards for Ladakh under Article 371, alongside a customised legislative body giving elected representatives executive and financial authority over the local bureaucracy.In contrast, J&K critics have accused their own leaders of prioritising official perks, such as government houses, vehicles, and salaries, over the core issues facing the Union Territory. While both the Prime Minister and home minister previously promised to restore statehood to J&K, they never provided a timeline.Despite widespread political expectations that statehood would follow the assembly polls, the NC government has now completed 21 months in office with no progress in sight.