- Srinagar MP Aga Ruhullah Mehdi resigned from National Conference.
- Accused CM Omar Abdullah of sacrificing dignity for power.
- Cited party's failure to fulfill electoral commitments as reason.
Tensions are on the rise for Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in Jammu and Kashmir as senior party leader and Srinagar MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi on Tuesday resigned from the party and announced to relinquish his Lok Sabha membership amid a growing rift with the party leadership.
Announcing his resignation from a rally in Budgam, Mehdi accused CM Abdullah of sacrificing personal dignity for power. "If you (Omar Abdullah) want to see what real respect looks like, come to Budgam," Mehdi said. In past few weeks, rift grew between Mehdi and the NC leadership over what the outgoing MP described as the party's failure to fulfil its electoral commitments.
Addressing the gathering at Behishti Zehra Park, organised to mark the death anniversary of his father, Aga Syed Mehdi, he said, "I pray to God that I never become so dependent on power that I have to throw away my cap to hold on to it."
Recommended For You
In a pointed dig at CM Abdullah, he said, "The chair you are sitting on right now is a source of sadness for both you and us." Speaking about his resignation, Mehdi said that he felt satisfaction in contrary to sadness as most people feel. "People who lose chairs get unhappy, but here we are throwing away a chair, and we are happy," the outgoing Srinagar MP said.
ALSO READ: J-K Govt On Brink As 25 NC MLAs Threaten Mass Resignation; BJP Still Short Of Numbers | Explained
Who is Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi?
Ruhullah' resignation marks the end of his 24-year-old association with the party. He won the 2024 general election with a margin of over 1.8 lakh votes. Mehdi comes from an influential Shia family background. His father Aga Syed Mehdi was a respected cleric, a learned scholar and a political who was assassinated in an IED blast in November 2000.
The outgoing Srinagar MP joined active politics after his father's assassination and won his first-even election in 2022 from Budgam assembly seat. He continued his winning streak in 2008 and 2014. He was inducted into the J&K government as the youngest-ever Cabinet Minister in India.
However, it is not the first time that dispute has erupted between him and NC. After Article 370 was abrogated, he accused the National Conference of remaining silent and had resigned from the post of party's chief spokesperson in July 2020.