SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Tuesday launched a sharp counterattack against Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi following his resignation from the party, accusing the Srinagar MP of political opportunism, self-obsession and failing to use his parliamentary position to advance the causes of restoration of special status and protection of open-merit jobs.
In a lengthy statement issued on social media, the NC questioned Ruhullah’s record on Article 370, reservation policy and the functioning of the elected government, arguing that his decision to sever ties with the party had come too late and was driven more by political theatrics than any consistent ideological position.
Taking particular exception to Ruhullah’s speech announcing his resignation, the party accused him of using derogatory and unparliamentary language against its leadership, saying his remarks reflected his own “mental and moral bankruptcy” and “self-obsession”.
The party also questioned the timing of his resignation, alleging that he acted only after being asked to do so by the party president. It accused him of invoking the events of 2010 selectively, pointing out that he had continued as a minister in the NC government during that period until he was removed in a general reshuffle and subsequently contested the 2014 Assembly elections on the party ticket.
On the issue of special status, the NC recalled that Ruhullah had welcomed the resolution passed by the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on November 6, demanding restoration of special status, and had described it as a promise delivered.
However, it questioned what he had subsequently done in Parliament to build support for the restoration of special status and statehood. The party asked whether he had attempted to mobilise opposition MPs, introduce a resolution or bring a bill on the issue.
Drawing a comparison with his parliamentary initiative against Allahabad High Court judge Shekhar Kumar Yadav, the NC said Ruhullah had managed to collect signatures of more than 100 MPs from different political parties for an impeachment motion but had made no comparable effort to mobilise parliamentary support for restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.
The statement also accused the MP of not adequately representing the concerns arising from the erosion of the elected government’s authority under the Union Territory arrangement. It asked whether he had raised in Parliament the alleged interference by the Lieutenant Governor’s administration in departments formally assigned to the elected government.
Reservation policy emerged as another major point of contention between the two sides. The NC acknowledged that the existing reservation arrangement had created serious grievances among open-merit candidates, describing it as an injustice that had taken place during the Lieutenant Governor’s rule.
It maintained that the issue had figured prominently in its election manifesto and that the party had promised corrective measures. After coming to power, the NC government constituted a Cabinet sub-committee and initiated changes in the reservation policy. However, the party alleged that the file had subsequently been stalled by the authorities.
Questioning Ruhullah’s interventions on the matter, the NC asked whether he had raised the issue in Parliament or sought an explanation from the Centre for holding up the elected government’s Cabinet decision. It also pointed out that he had been elected to Parliament six months before the Assembly elections but had not organised any protest against the Lieutenant Governor’s administration over the reservation issue.
The party further questioned whether he had raised concerns about alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations and the exclusion of job aspirants from different regions.
Defending its own political approach, the NC said restoration of statehood would not come at the cost of its demand for restoration of special status. It cited the elected government’s first Cabinet decision on the special-status resolution and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s Independence Day remarks as evidence of its continued commitment to the issue.
“Protection and preservation of our identity and constitutional rights form the foundation of NC’s political ideology,” the statement said, adding that abandoning this position would amount to abandoning the party’s political legacy of more than 90 years.
Arguing that the struggle to reclaim constitutional rights required political strategy rather than public spectacle, the party said theatrics might generate temporary attention and social-media engagement but would not deliver tangible results for the people.
The NC also accused Ruhullah of working against the party while remaining a member of it, alleging that he had contributed to the party’s defeat in the Budgam Assembly by-election. It said he should have resigned a year earlier if his differences with the party were genuine.
The statement ended by questioning the political trajectory of the three-time MLA and former minister, who entered politics through the NC and represented the party in the Assembly and Parliament.
The public exchange marks a sharp escalation in the confrontation between Ruhullah and the party leadership, with the dispute now extending beyond his resignation to competing claims over the NC’s ideological commitment, its handling of reservation policy and its strategy for restoring Jammu and Kashmir’s constitutional position.
