Photo: Syed Shahzaman1 / Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, who represents Srinagar in the Lok Sabha, walked out of the ruling Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC) on Tuesday, November 3, and gave up his parliamentary seat as well. He signed a two-page resignation letter on stage before thousands of supporters at Behisht-e-Zehra park in Budgam, and also emailed his resignation from the Lok Sabha to Speaker Om Birla, ending a 24-year association with the party.
He chose the day deliberately. November 3 is the death anniversary of his father, Aga Syed Mehdi, a Congress leader and prominent Shia figure who was killed by militants in an IED blast on a road in Budgam district in 2000. In a symbolic move, Ruhullah handed the signed letter to Muhammad Ashraf Mattoo, whose 17-year-old son Tufail was killed in alleged police firing in 2010, when Omar Abdullah was chief minister.
‘You used me’
In his speech, Ruhullah turned directly on Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and NC president Farooq Abdullah. He accused them of misleading voters on the fight to restore Article 370 and of failing to deliver manifesto promises such as rationalising reservations and 200 units of free electricity.
You lied and misled the people, you used me. My people had faith in me.
Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, addressing Omar Abdullah
He also addressed the Centre, the BJP and the RSS, saying the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh would talk on their own terms and would not give up on constitutional protections they see as a matter of dignity. Before signing, he said he would look for honest and compassionate young people to bring into politics, a remark widely read as a hint that he may launch a new party.
A rift two years in the making
A three-time MLA from Budgam between 2002 and 2014 and a minister in Omar Abdullah’s first cabinet, Ruhullah won the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat in 2024. Differences with the leadership became public in December 2024, when he joined students protesting outside the chief minister’s Gupkar Road residence over the reservation policy in jobs and education. He later refused to campaign for the NC in the Budgam by-election, which the party lost to the PDP. In August, Farooq Abdullah publicly asked him to quit the party and the seat and seek a fresh mandate.
Why it matters and what comes next
The exit comes at an awkward moment for Omar Abdullah. Around 25 NC legislators have reportedly demanded that all eight cabinet ministers be replaced within 15 days and that his political adviser Nasir Aslam Wani be removed. The NC holds 41 seats in the 90-member Assembly and governs with support from Congress, independent and CPI(M) legislators.
NC minister Javed Rana said the party would remain united if Ruhullah left, while independent MLA Shabir Ahmad Kullay said giving up the seat would cost Kashmir a voice in Parliament. BJP leader Ravinder Raina called it an internal matter of the NC. Once the Speaker accepts the resignation, the Srinagar seat will fall vacant, setting the stage for a by-election that could become an early test of Ruhullah’s support against his former party.
