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.
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.
What he left behind was not just a resignation letter but a four-page political indictment of the party's leadership.
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.
"I will begin with a note that meshes history with the present of the region that I belong to, Jammu and Kashmir. Our region and its people bear the burden of history," he wrote, adding that the weight of history hangs on Kashmir's past, present and future "like the Damocles Sword".
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. Without these, there is just erasure of a people."
But 2019, he argued, was also paradoxically an opportunity to "reclaim politics and space" - an opportunity that demanded struggle and sacrifice. His assumption, Ruhullah wrote, was that the NC would lead that struggle.
"I approached you and you assured me of a struggle. Based on this assurance, I aligned my politics more vigorously with the NC. The hope was this alignment would create and catalyse a movement for restoration of our rights. But, alas, this was not to be," the letter read.
He recalled how he had vigorously and tirelessly campaigned for the NC in 2024. "The people poured their anger and expectations on NC with a massive mandate. But the electoral arena had not yet cooled down, the NC did an about turn."
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.
"This was a time when able and determined leadership was needed to take the struggle for rights further. But the NC abdicated this space for mere government and for a vain and vague promise of so-called restoration of statehood," he charged.
The letter notes that when he raised these concerns, strains developed and insult was added to injury when the party aligned itself to a stance of "total and absolute abdication".
"We, the people of Kashmir, are in the midst of many cross-cutting transitions... Depoliticisation and abdication of politics at this critical time aids and abets this process of denudation of the people of J&K. I cannot and will not be party to this," he wrote.
Ruhullah, who has been vocal on issues of reservation rationalisation, political prisoners and restoration of Article 370, cited ideological differences and the party's inaction on these fronts as the breaking point.
He closed the letter with an emotional pledge: "I thank you for the political journey we have had together till now. But this will not continue. I will, with Allah's help, find a niche and way to serve my people... This is a pledge that I have made with my father's soul and above all with my creator. I will stick to principles and not expedience that my faith, values and ancestral guidance inspire."
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.
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