 Early Times Report
Jammu, Apr 16: Despite multiple attempts by the ruling National Conference (NC) to placate its Srinagar Lok Sabha member Aga Ruhullah Mehdi, the visibly disillusioned MP has called a meeting of his supporters on Sunday to chart out his future political course.
The move comes just days after the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Jammu and Kashmir filed a chargesheet against Ruhullah in connection with the alleged Budgam fraudulent payment scam — a development that appears to have further widened the rift between him and his party.
Sources close to Ruhullah said the meeting will serve as a platform to gather feedback from his supporters and well-wishers as he prepares to decide the next steps in his political journey.
Breaking his silence on the growing discord with the NC, Ruhullah alleged on Tuesday that he has been deliberately sidelined within the party after extending support to student protests against the Union Territory’s current reservation policy.
“The party leadership has cut off all communication with me since I stood by protesting students during a demonstration against the controversial reservation policy last year,” Ruhullah said during a live session on X Spaces.
He had joined the protest outside the Chief Minister’s residence on December 22, 2024, alongside members of opposition parties including the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Awami Ittihad Party (AIP).
Ruhullah claimed that while his views were once respected within the NC, everything changed after the protest. H The move comes just days after the ACB filed a chargesheet against Ruhullah in connection with the alleged Budgam fraudulent payment scam.
Ruhullah said the meeting will serve as a platform to gather feedback from his supporters and well-wishers as he prepares to decide the next steps in his political journey.
Ruhullah had alleged that he has been deliberately sidelined within the party after extending support to student protests against the UT’s current reservation policy.
The party leadership has cut off all communication with me since I stood by protesting students during a demonstration against the controversial reservation policy last year.
"My politics is not driven by ambition. What I say comes from my conscience, not from any political design. I don’t need to prove it to anyone. God is my judge," he declared.
In what many interpret as a subtle warning to the NC leadership, Ruhullah recently opposed any attempt to "impose an outsider" in the upcoming Budgam assembly by-election.
The by-poll was necessitated after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah vacated the seat following his election from the Ganderbal assembly segment.
"I had the honour of serving the people of Budgam for 18 years. When I moved to Parliament, I urged them to support the party's Vice President for the Assembly seat, and they responded in large numbers," Ruhullah said.
"Now that the seat is vacant, I sense through countless conversations a clear sentiment—the people of Budgam want one of their own to represent them again. I deeply respect their aspiration. Insha Allah, Budgam will once again be represented by someone from Budgam,” he added.
On April 13, the ACB filed a chargesheet against 22 individuals, including Ruhullah, in the alleged Budgam payment fraud case. The case relates to rent payments withdrawn for 107 kanals of land, although the Rakhs and Farms Department in Kashmir reportedly possessed only seven kanals.
Ruhullah dismissed the charges as politically motivated, claiming the revival of the two-decade-old issue was a deliberate attempt to muzzle his dissenting voice within the party. | 