Bilal bazaz cni

Srinagar, (CNI NEWS): National Conference MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi has launched a blistering counterattack against party president Dr Farooq Abdullah over his demand for resignation, questioning the NC leadership’s political credibility and its apparent retreat from the party’s earlier position on Article 370.In a strongly worded response, Ruhullah said Abdullah’s recent remarks about “begging from Delhi” had prompted serious questions about

why the same yardstick should not apply when the NC seeks restoration of statehood from the Centre.Ruhullah argued that reducing Jammu and Kashmir’s political aspirations to restoration of statehood amounted to accepting the post-August 2019 constitutional order as the new political reality. He maintained that statehood cannot be treated as a substitute for the

constitutional safeguards that, according to him, were promised to the people.Taking direct aim at the NC’s 2024 manifesto, Ruhullah questioned why the party had promised restoration of Articles 370 and 35A when the BJP was already ruling at the Centre.He asked whether the promises were made despite knowing they could not be fulfilled, or whether the issue was invoked merely for political mobilisation before the

elections.Ruhullah described such a possibility as a grave moral and political failure, saying he was unwilling to become part of what he termed a deception of the people who had voted with hope and trust.Responding to Abdullah’s call for his resignation, Ruhullah declared that he was prepared to quit but insisted that accountability must precede his resignation.“Resignation will come. It would have come even without you asking, but before that must come accountability,” he said.Ruhullah also questioned the NC leadership’s consistency, recalling that Farooq Abdullah had been Chief Minister when the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly passed the Autonomy Resolution.

He asked why constitutional guarantees for Jammu and Kashmir, once part of the NC’s political vocabulary, had now become so contentious that a party leader advocating them was being publicly censured.Turning personal, Ruhullah rejected Abdullah’s remarks questioning his political standing before joining the NC.

He said he belonged to a family carrying a “long tradition of martyrdom” and was the son of a martyr, adding that he had not sought entry into the NC but had personally been invited by Farooq Abdullah.The sharp response exposes deepening fault lines within the National Conference over Article 370, constitutional safeguards, statehood and the party’s post-2019 political strategy, with Ruhullah making it clear that he is unwilling to dilute his position merely to conform to the party leadership’s present line. CNI NEWS