Srinagar MP Ruhullah Quits National Conference, Resigns Seat

Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi announced on Tuesday, Nov. 3, at a large gathering at Behisht-e-Zehra Park in Budgam, that he is leaving the National Conference after 24 years and resigning as the Member of Parliament for Srinagar. He won the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat in the 2024 general election as a National Conference candidate. One speech ended both roles at once.

He chose the date with care. Nov. 3 was the 26th death anniversary of his father, Aga Syed Mehdi, a Shia cleric and Congress politician who was assassinated on Nov. 3, 2000. He announced his exit on that anniversary, in front of a large crowd in Budgam.

Two resignations in one day

Ruhullah emailed his Lok Sabha resignation to Speaker Om Birla. He invoked Article 101(3)(b) of the Constitution and Rule 240 of the Lok Sabha rules, and asked for immediate acceptance, according to Particle News. The Srinagar seat becomes vacant only if the Speaker accepts the resignation. A by-election could then follow.

His party resignation went by a different route. He handed it to Muhammad Ashraf Mattoo, the father of Tufail Mattoo, a teenager killed in alleged police firing in 2010 during Omar Abdullah's tenure as chief minister. He asked Mattoo to deliver the letter to party president Farooq Abdullah.

The charge against his own party

Ruhullah said the party betrayed its 2024 election promises, including the promise to restore Article 370, and failed to defend the political rights of Jammu and Kashmir. He recalled the 2024 Ganderbal campaign, where Omar Abdullah removed his skullcap while seeking votes. "You remember nothing, neither your promises nor your skullcap," he said.

He called his exit an act of "azadi", meaning freedom. Farooq Abdullah had told him in August that he was free to quit. The National Conference condemned the speech as backstabbing, according to Particle News.

Why it matters

Srinagar is one of the most closely watched seats in Jammu and Kashmir politics, and Ruhullah held it for the National Conference, the party that leads the government in the Union Territory. His exit removes a sitting MP from the party, accuses its leadership of breaking its central campaign promise, and ties that charge to the memory of 2010 and to the family of a teenager killed that year.

Reports carried by Particle News say about 25 National Conference legislators have demanded a cabinet overhaul. Those reports are separate from Ruhullah's own statements, but they point to pressure inside the party at the same moment as his public break.

What happens next

The first decision sits with Speaker Om Birla. If he accepts the resignation, the Srinagar seat falls vacant and a by-election can follow. Ruhullah signalled he will build a new political movement based on what he called "principles and character", travel across Jammu and Kashmir, and is expected to contest the Srinagar seat as an independent in a by-election, according to Mirror Now.

That path would let Srinagar voters judge his break with the party directly. It would also test whether a movement built around his charges on Article 370 and political rights can draw support beyond his own name.