Obliging National Conference President Farooq Abdullah, Member of Parliament from Srinagar, Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, on Tuesday ended his 24-year-long association with the ruling party by signing a two-page resignation from the podium, in front of thousands of supporters in Budgam.
Before exiting on moral high ground, Ruhullah also accused the party leadership of abandoning the political commitments on which it had sought public support in the 2024 elections.
The move comes amid broader internal unrest in the NC, including discontent among MLAs following a recent Cabinet expansion that increased the number of ministers.
The announcement came during a large public gathering at Behisht-e-Zehra Park in Budgam, held on the 26th death anniversary of his father, Aga Syed Mehdi.
Addressing thousands of supporters, the three-time former Budgam MLA and prominent Shia leader described the resignation letter signed by him as an “Azadinaama” or “decree of freedom” from the party after a 24-year association.
He handed the document to Mohammad Ashraf Mattoo, father of 17-year-old Tufail Ahmad Mattoo, who was killed in 2010 during Omar Abdullah’s previous tenure as Chief Minister. Mehdi also emailed his resignation from the Srinagar parliamentary constituency to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, effective immediately under Article 101(3)(b) of the Constitution.
In the last week of August this year, Abdullah had dared the Srinagar MP to resign from the Lok Sabha and seek a fresh mandate from the electorate.
In an extended speech lasting over an hour, Mehdi launched a sharp attack on the Abdullah family and the NC Government.
He accused the party of seeking votes on promises to restore Article 370 and constitutional rights, release political prisoners, rationalise the reservation policy, create one lakh jobs, provide 200 units of free electricity, and supply free LPG cylinders, then abandoning them after assuming power. He called Omar Abdullah “incompetent,” alleged that the Chief Minister had “spoken the language that the BJP wanted people to speak,” and said the leadership had chosen “submission over reconciliation.”
Hitting back, the ruling party launched a sharp counterattack, 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 written statement, 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.
Ruhullah claimed the party had used him and misled voters, stating that Farooq Abdullah had effectively admitted the party no longer believed Article 370 could be restored.
He also criticised the Government for presenting shawls to central leaders while failing to assert Kashmir’s political demands, and asserted that the people of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh would “speak on their terms.”
Mehdi hinted at future political plans, saying he was already identifying “honest young people who have compassion” willing to fight for rights and dignity, and indicated interest in a new platform.
BJP national vice-president Ram Madhav, who was on a day-long visit to Jammu, said that National Conference MP Aga Ruhullah was holding a rally with the blessings of “our people”, while claiming that the ruling party in Jammu and Kashmir was visibly divided and that the BJP had no involvement in NC’s internal affairs.
“I would not like to comment on the matter, but the National Conference is visibly divided today. Ruhullah is holding the rally today with the blessings of our people,” Madhav, who played a key role in the formation of the PDP-BJP Government in J&K in 2015-2016, told reporters at a press conference in Jammu.
His visit comes amid reports of growing dissent among NC MLAs following the recent Cabinet expansion by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
Madhav, however, distanced the BJP from the NC’s internal developments, saying statements made by BJP legislators did not represent the party’s position.
“Let me reiterate that we have no involvement in the internal affairs of the National Conference. Whatever statements our MLAs make are a separate matter. This is entirely an internal matter of the NC, and its leaders are fighting among themselves,” he said.