The son of a slain politician father. A daughter, out to become the face of her father’s vintage political dream. And a suave son fighting hard to step out of his father’s shadow. The verdict in Kashmir is also a story of the victory of political heirs.

Mufti Mohammad Sayeed always wanted to be Chief Minister. But it was his daughter, Mehbooba Mufti, who made the dream come true for him. From a door-to-door campaign to a soft separatist stand, their party, PDP, became a household name in Kashmir and with only 16 seats, Mufti became CM in 2002 for three years. It was Mehbooba who was behind the meteoric rise of the People’s Democratic Party. This election, Mehbooba won again, for the third consecutive time. But the victory was not enough to bring them to power again.

This time, it was the third generation Abdullah who made a mark. When Omar Abdullah joined politics, there were household jokes about his accent and his non-Kashmiri ways. He hardly evoked the loyalty his grandfather Sheikh Abdullah did among his people, nor did he have the flamboyance of his father Farooq Abdullah. In 2002, his first election, Omar lost from Ganderbal, the traditional National Conference bastion. He was written off by his opponents and friends as well.

But he didn’t lose heart. From blogging on the Net to the frequent TV interviews where he represented the aspirations of a common Kashmiri and then, the two-minute fiery speech in Parliament, Omar made inroads into the Kashmiri political landscape. He announced his arrival by winning back Ganderbal and along with it the crown of the Chief Minister. Omar was not the only NC leader, who trounced his opponent, there were others as well.

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