In a major setback to Jammu and Kashmir’s ruling National Conference, Srinagar Lok Sabha MP and its most prominent Shia face, Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, has resigned from the party and Parliament. The formal announcement was made on the 26th death anniversary of his father, Aga Syed Mehdi, at an emotional gathering in Budgam.
What he left behind was not just a resignation letter but a four-page political indictment of the party’s leadership. Without these, there is just erasure of a people. The move ends Ruhullah’s 24-year association with the NC and sets the stage for a by-election in Srinagar once his resignation is accepted by the Lok Sabha Speaker. Terming the abrogation of Article 370 and 35-A in 2019 as a ‘brazen assault’ on the rights of Kashmiris, he said, “Rights make a people.
Accusing the NC of betraying the “anger, emotions and massive mandate” the people gave it in the 2024 assembly polls, Ruhullah said the party did an ‘about turn’ as soon as the electoral battle was over. Calling it a personal betrayal, Ruhullah said what hurt him most was the betrayal of the people’s expectations at a time when J&K faces an existential threat. Sources close to this firebrand MP said he has no immediate plans to join another party and instead intends to build a youth-led collective, while making it clear he will not destabilize the Omar Abdullah government.
