Srinagar MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi has proposed that Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah resign from his post and contest for Parliament, saying he would be willing to quit as a member of Parliament in return and reconsider his decision to leave the National Conference (NC).
Ruhullah said Abdullah should take the parliamentary fight for restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s constitutional protections and status to New Delhi, while another NC leader should be appointed chief minister to focus on governance.
“The current CM should resign from the post and go to Parliament. I resign from the Member Parliament,” Ruhullah said, presenting the proposal as one of two or three suggestions to the party.
He said that if the suggestions were accepted, he was ready to resign from Parliament the next day and return to working with the NC as before.
“I am ready to resign the next day. I am ready to go back to the party, to the National Conference,” he said in an interview with a news agency.
Ruhullah also suggested that the NC should give him responsibility for organising a political movement focused on the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s constitutional protections, statehood and dignity.
He said Abdullah, after moving to Parliament, should lead the campaign in New Delhi, while the government should concentrate on governance and fulfilling the party’s manifesto.
Ruhullah said the proposal was his response to remarks made by NC president Dr Farooq Abdullah and was intended as a way to resolve the differences rather than as a condition for his resignation.
He has previously indicated that he intends to resign from Parliament but said he wanted to make further attempts to advance his political campaign before taking the final step.
“I have made up my mind. I want to be able to do a few more things. After that, I will resign,” he said, adding that he was talking about “a few months”, not a year.
Ruhullah said his parliamentary position had provided him a platform to raise the issue of Jammu and Kashmir’s constitutional status and lobby with political parties outside the region.
He said resigning would mean losing that platform, including the ability to lobby and conduct outreach through Parliament.
The Srinagar MP also said he felt increasingly distanced from the party’s functioning and decision-making, and described the situation as creating a “moral compulsion” to consider leaving.
“There is no one to compel me. Whatever I have to do, I will do it on the level of morality and conviction,” he said.
He also criticised the party for not issuing him a formal show-cause notice if it believed he had acted against its ideology, agenda or manifesto.
Ruhullah said he remained open to reconsidering his decision if his proposals were accepted, but otherwise reiterated that his exit could come within months.
