“Where was his conscience?”: NC hits back at Ruhullah Mehdi after resignation

The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC) on Monday hit back at Lok Sabha MP Aga Ruhullah Mehdi over his decision to resign from the party and Parliament, accusing him of indulging in “theatrics” and questioning his record on the restoration of special status and reservation rights.

In a strongly worded response, the party accused Ruhullah of using the issues of special status and reservation to justify his resignation, alleging that he had failed to raise these matters effectively in Parliament despite having the opportunity to do so.

Taking a swipe at his criticism of the NC leadership, the party said his speech reflected “mental and moral bankruptcy” and accused him of using derogatory and unparliamentary language against its leadership while invoking the Quran and its message of human dignity.

The NC also questioned Ruhullah's position on the restoration of special status, recalling that he had welcomed the resolution passed by the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on November 6, describing it as a promise delivered.

The party asked what efforts he had made in Parliament to build support for the restoration of special status or statehood, and whether he had attempted to move a resolution or bill on the issue.

It also questioned why Ruhullah had managed to collect signatures of more than 100 MPs for an impeachment motion against Allahabad High Court judge Shekhar Kumar Yadav but had not made a similar effort to mobilise parliamentary support for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's special status.

On the reservation issue, the NC said the party had made changes to the existing reservation policy a key part of its election manifesto and subsequently constituted a cabinet sub-committee to examine the matter.

It alleged that the file had been stalled by the authorities and questioned whether Ruhullah had raised the issue in Parliament or sought answers from the Centre over the delay in implementing the cabinet's decisions.

The party also accused the MP of failing to challenge the Lieutenant Governor and the Centre over what it described as injustice to open-merit candidates, multiple recruitment controversies and the alleged exclusion of job aspirants from certain regions.

Referring to Ruhullah's political career, the NC said he had remained a minister in the Omar Abdullah-led government in 2010 until a general reshuffle, contested the 2014 Assembly elections on the party ticket and had not raised the same concerns at the time.

It further accused him of contributing to the party's defeat in the Budgam Assembly bypoll while remaining a member of the NC, asking where his conscience had been then.

Defending its position on special status and statehood, the party said restoration of statehood would not come at the cost of its demand for the restoration of special status.

It maintained that the protection of Jammu and Kashmir's identity and constitutional rights remained central to its political ideology, which it said the party had upheld for more than 90 years.

“Reclaiming and repossessing what was taken away from us needs a deft politics, not theatrics,” the party said, adding that such actions might generate temporary attention and social media engagement but would not achieve anything for the people.

The response came after Ruhullah announced his decision to resign from the National Conference and his Lok Sabha membership intensifying his confrontation with the party leadership.