New Delhi: Lok Sabha MP and National Conference (NC) leader Aga Ruhullah Mehdi walked out of a party working committee meeting after a clash with J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah earlier this week, ThePrint has learnt.
According to sources in the NC, this was the first working committee meeting of the party after the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, and a number of items were to be taken up, including political agenda and functioning of the NC. The meeting took place on Wednesday.
Sources said that during the meeting, attended by all the senior leaders, Ruhullah criticised the overall functioning of the party under Omar and the “direction” it has taken over the past few months. “He expressed his disappointment in the way things have been progressing and publicly confronted the core working committee. He explained the situation and ultimately chose to walk out of the meeting as a mark of protest,” said a source familiar with the matter.
Some who attended the meeting told ThePrint that a number of leaders expressed satisfaction with the functioning of the government under Omar’s leadership, while Ruhullah offered a sharp critique of the government as well as the party. “He tried to address the issue of the party’s ideological failure and the way the government is cosying up to the reality being presented by Delhi,” said one of the attendees, not wanting to be named.
Another attendee told ThePrint Ruhullah said that the way things are progressing, “it means that the party does not believe in the trust and mandate that has been bestowed upon them by the people of Kashmir”.
“We should stop treating the working committee meeting as a public milan. If we are not delivering on the promises we made in the manifesto, we are letting our own people down. Whether it is Article 370, or other issues, we have not moved an inch. Statehood will come but let’s focus on Article 370,” Ruhullah was quoted as having said.
This is not the first time Ruhullah has openly defied his party. Last December, the Srinagar MP had led a protest by Kashmiri students outside Omar’s residence, demanding a revamp of the reservation policy in Jammu & Kashmir.
Ruhullah had then faced criticism from his party colleague Salman Sagar for joining the protest.
A close aide of Ruhullah said the MP had asked his government to focus on “bigger” concerns rather than addressing issues related to “bijli, paani and sadak”.
“As things unfolded, Omar Abdullah got irritated and even suggested to Ruhullah that he contest the by-election and be part of the government to make a change. He said Ruhullah was being two-faced as he had earlier said he would not contest the elections after Article 370,” the aide told ThePrint.
Sources said it was at this juncture that Ruhullah decided to walk out of the meeting while maintaining that he had never expressed a desire to contest the Lok Sabha elections.
Abdullah had in April said he would not use the Pahalgam terror attack to press for his government demand of statehood for the Union territory.
An NC leader told ThePrint that Ruhullah has been finding it difficult to adjust to the J&K government’s relations with the Centre.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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