SRINAGAR: National Conference MP Aga Ruhullah Mehdi has announced that he will resign from the party and his Lok Sabha seat on November 3, 2026, the death anniversary of his father.
In a post on X, his office said Ruhullah would step down from both the party and Parliament on that date.
Taking aim at Chief Minister Omar Abdullah without naming him, Ruhullah said, “The crown prince and his cabal treat J&K as an estate passed down through the family. They expect the people to vote, then know their place.”
“They take us for fools who cannot tell a broken promise from a political necessity. Ask them to honour their own manifesto, and they lecture us on how little we understand realpolitik,” he said.
Ruhullah further said, “We demanded the restoration of Article 370, the release of prisoners and the protection of our rights. They sought power on those promises, then treated us as fools for expecting them to deliver.”
“We refuse to lend our name to this humiliation. There is no fixing this rot from within. The seat was won on a promise to the people” the MP said.
His office said Ruhullah would surrender the seat rather than become an accomplice to the betrayal of that promise.
A vocal advocate of restoring Article 370, Ruhullah was the National Conference’s star campaigner in the 2024 Assembly elections. Sources said he had been reluctant to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls but was persuaded by Omar Abdullah with an assurance that he would have a free hand to articulate his position on Article 370.
The restoration of Article 370 was among the NC’s main promises in the 2024 Assembly elections, along with one lakh jobs and 200 units of free electricity for J&K residents.
After the party came to power, Ruhullah repeatedly insisted that the restoration of Article 370 remain central to its agenda. He accused the Omar Abdullah government of focusing increasingly on the restoration of statehood rather than pursuing the demand for the restoration of J&K’s special status.
Ruhullah has since been sidelined by the party and is reportedly not being invited to its meetings and activities. He was also absent from the NC’s campaign during the Budgam Assembly bypoll last year, which the party lost despite the constituency being considered its stronghold.
With Ruhullah set to leave the party, it remains to be seen whether he will quit alone or be joined by other MLAs.