Srinagar, Nov 3 (HS): The National Conference (NC) on Tuesday hit back at Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi hours after he quit the party and the Lok Sabha, accusing him of using “derogatory, abusive and unparliamentary language” against the party leadership and questioning his record on special status and reservation.

In a statement, the NC said Ruhullah’s speech at Budgam reflected his “mental and moral bankruptcy” and self-obsession. It said he had invoked the Quran and its message of dignity and respect for human beings, yet his language “only reflects who he is”.

The party said that since Ruhullah had chosen to cite special status and reservation as reasons for his exit, the record needed to be set straight. It alleged that he remembered to resign only when the party president told him to, and that he recalled 2010 only when it suited him. According to the NC, Ruhullah remained a minister until he was removed in a general reshuffle in 2010, fought the 2014 election on an NC ticket without raising the issue, and “conveniently forgot” it until 2026.

On special status, the NC asked whether Ruhullah was not among the first to welcome the Assembly resolution of November 6 demanding its restoration, and whether he had not said that the promise had been delivered. It said he was elected to Parliament to represent people’s sentiments and to garner the support of secular parties, and asked what he had done on the issue there.

The party noted that Ruhullah had gathered signatures of more than 100 MPs from different parties to move an impeachment motion against Allahabad High Court judge Shekhar Kumar Yadav. It asked whether he had made any similar effort for the restoration of special status or statehood, or tried to move a resolution or bill on the matter. It also asked whether he had ever said in Parliament that, even under the current Union Territory arrangement, departments technically under the elected government were not allowed to function and the Lieutenant Governor continued to run them “through remote control”.

On reservation, the NC said Ruhullah began his opposition to the elected government on an issue that was a “grave injustice” to the open merit category, committed during the LG’s rule. The party said it had raised the issue, made it part of its election manifesto and promised to change it. It accused Ruhullah and his associates of blaming those who had flagged the problem instead.

According to the NC, the government formed a cabinet sub-committee in line with its promise and made the first significant changes in reservation, but the file had been stalled by “the powers that be”. It asked whether Ruhullah had raised this in Parliament and asked the Centre why the cabinet decision had been held up. It also asked whether he had organised a single protest against the LG, or raised the issue of alleged recruitment and exam frauds in which, it said, job aspirants of one region were systematically removed from jobs.

The NC said it knew its limitations under the present scheme of things and had chosen its roadmap carefully on issues linked to the people’s existence and identity. Its emphasis on statehood, it said, was not and would never be at the expense of special status, adding that the resolution on special status was the first item of business of the government and that the Chief Minister had reiterated it on August 15. “Reclaiming and repossessing what was taken away from us needs a deft politics, not theatrics,” the party said, adding that theatrics might bring social media likes but would achieve nothing for the people in the long run.

The party said Ruhullah’s decision to quit as MP was “too late” and that he should have done so a year ago. It alleged that while still in the NC, he became instrumental in the party’s defeat in the Budgam Assembly bypoll, and asked where his conscience was then.

Calling it “astonishing”, the NC said someone who owed his entire political existence to the party, started his politics there, and served as MLA for three terms, minister and MP was now “brazenly” finding faults in it after 25 years.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Zahoor Hussain Bhat