Srinagar: National Conference (NC) Lok Sabha member Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi Friday announced that he will resign from both the party and the Lok Sabha in November, citing differences with the party’s stance on Jammu and Kashmir’s political future.
In a detailed letter addressed to NC president Farooq Abdullah, Mehdi justified his decision, saying Abdullah’s recent remarks had resonated with him but also exposed contradictions in the party’s position.
“It was heartening to hear your press statement 25 August 2026, in which you said: ‘How long will you be a slave? You have to stand on your feet sometimes. When will you stand?’ Those words captured the frustration many of us in Jammu and Kashmir feel,” Mehdi wrote.
He argued that the NC’s acceptance of statehood as the political horizon was no different from the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) position, adding that this legitimised the constitutional changes of August 2019.
Mehdi said the party had promised restoration of Articles 370 and 35A in its 2024 manifesto despite knowing the BJP was in power, questioning whether those promises were ever intended to be fulfilled.
“This demotion to statehood is opposed to the grand promises of restoration of Articles 370 and 35A that we came to power with. If so, then this is not merely a political misjudgment. It is a sin, a brazen moral failure of deliberately misleading an entire population,” he said.
Mehdi accused the party of misleading voters and said he wanted no share in what he described as a “lie”. He added that he had become the target of a coordinated campaign of rebuke within the NC.
He stressed that Article 370 symbolised the struggle to restore dignity, honour, constitutional guarantees and liberties of the people.
“Nearly 65 per cent of Jammu and Kashmir’s population is young, and their future is increasingly uncertain, with no jobs and opportunities. Our land is up for grabs. Our resources benefit everybody but us,” Mehdi said.
He criticised the NC for adjusting its aspirations to what the BJP was willing to concede, instead of fighting for constitutional guarantees.
“Our responsibility is to push the horizon of our demands; to fight for constitutional guarantees that protect our people, our rich and diverse traditions, our resources, and the land we hold most dearly,” he added.
Mehdi also reminded Abdullah that he had personally invited him into the NC, rejecting suggestions that he owed his political career solely to the party.
“Perhaps that is precisely why I never had to ask to be a part of the NC. You personally invited me into it,” he wrote.
With his decision to resign from both the NC and the Lok Sabha, speculation is rife that Mehdi may launch a new political party.
