Days after National Conference President Farooq Abdullah dared rebel MP from Srinagar Aga Ruhullah Mehdi to resign his Lok Sabha seat and face a fresh election, the MP has confirmed to NDTV that he is up for the challenge.
Aga Ruhullah Mehdi, NC MP from Srinagar, has confirmed that he has decided to resign from Parliament and the primary membership of the National Conference due to a deepening rift with his party on "ideological grounds".
He has blamed the NC leadership for reneging on its election promise to fight for the restoration of J&K's special status.
Aga Ruhullah said he has decided to resign because he doesn't want to be part of "lies and betrayal".
Speaking to NDTV, he said he will formally send his resignation letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker and NC president Farooq Abdullah on November 3, the 26th death anniversary of his father Aga Syed Mehdi, who was killed by terrorists in an IED blast.
The MP is planning a major public rally in his stronghold Budgam on his father's death anniversary, where he will formally release his resignation letter and the reasons for quitting as MP.
"Yes, I am resigning from the party and as Srinagar MP. I have a few commitments before I formally submit my resignation. I have to disburse funds under MPLADS (Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme). I have also invited some MPs for a conference in Srinagar as part of my efforts to fight for restoration of J&K's constitutional rights," Aga Ruhullah told NDTV.
The Srinagar MP has often blamed Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for abandoning the party's ideology and its commitment to fight for the restoration of special status under the abrogated Article 370.
After resigning, Aga Ruhullah plans to take on the ruling National Conference and fight the by-election from the same seat.
"Once by-elections are announced, I will consult people and I may contest the by-election as an independent candidate," he said.
Ruhullah's relations with the National Conference have been strained for a while. In October last year, the party lost the by-election for the Budgam Assembly seat, which was vacated by Omar Abdullah who had won two seats in the 2024 Assembly election.
The loss was attributed to Aga Ruhullah's refusal to campaign for the party candidate and his strong criticism of the Chief Minister. After the party's defeat, Omar Abdullah said that Aga Ruhullah had committed "political suicide".
Aga Ruhullah blames the National Conference for "lies and betrayal" for not fighting for constitutional guarantees after making a commitment to the people in its election manifesto.
"During elections, they (NC) promised to fight for restoration of Article 370. They put it in their manifesto. But soon after winning elections, they reneged on their commitment," he said.
He said the NC is now making excuses that the BJP, which abrogated Article 370, will never restore it. He said such logic only exposes its lies.
"Wasn't BJP there when they made such a commitment in the election manifesto? It was the same BJP when they went to people with the commitment promising that they will fight for restoration of special status," asked Aga Ruhullah.
"It's clear that they lied to people during elections and I will not be party to this lie and betrayal... My commitments do not change according to situations. I will follow my conviction and principles," he said.
Talking to reporters in Srinagar on Tuesday, Farooq Abdullah while responding to Aga Ruhullah's claim that his 2024 Lok Sabha victory came solely due to his personal credibility rather than the party's mandate, said, "If you think people voted for you, resign and go back to them. We will see how many votes you get".
The very next day, Aga Ruhullah responded: "It is not possible that Doctor sahib asks me for something and I send him back empty-handed."
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