J&K: After Chief Spokesperson Resigns, Rumours of Dissent Within National Conference

Ruhullah Mehdi’s move is being seen as a sign of disagreement with the party leadership for placing emphasis on restoring J&K’s statehood, not special status.

Srinagar: The National Conference chief spokesperson Ruhuallah Mehdi has resigned from the position, in what is being seen as a display of differences with the party leadership over its purported emphasis on the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and not its special status.

A three-time legislator and former cabinet minister, Mehdi has been arguing for the past several months that the party’s priority should be the restoration of J&K’s special status granted by Article 370.

“I have sent across my resignation from the post of Chief Spokesperson of @JKNC_. From here on none of my statements should be considered as such,” he wrote on Twitter.

Omar Abdullah’s statements to media

Mehdi’s resignation comes barely days after the party vice president Omar Abdullah said he would not contest assembly elections for as long as J&K remains a Union Territory.

Breaking his silence over the August 5 move by the government of India last year to dilute Article 370 and downgrade the state of J&K into two UTs, Omar wrote in the Indian Express that he was very clear that while the region remains a UT, he will not contest any assembly elections.

Also Read: Will Not Contest Assembly Elections While J&K Remains a Union Territory: Omar Abdullah

Later, during his interview with the newspaper, he said, “Hopefully, when J&K is restored to statehood then we can start taking a look at everything that has been done and see what options are available to us.”

While Omar also referred to the National Conference’s decision to move the Supreme Court over the revocation of J&K’s special status, he, however, ruled out agitating over the restoration of Articles 370 and 35A.

“Now if you are asking me whether the NC will take this battle to the streets, I think the time for that has passed. When in the immediate aftermath of what happened on August 5, the battle didn’t go out into the streets, why would it go down to the streets one year later. So we will fight it politically, legally. We are committed to do that,” Omar said.

While announcing his resignation, Mehdi, an influential Shia leader, said the restoration of statehood should be the “least of the demands.”

“It should be the last demand. Our main demand should be the restoration of (J&K’s) special status,” said Mehdi.

A senior party leader said Mehdi’s decision was “coming for a long time.” “He has been itchy for the past few months and has been expressing that the party should be focused on the fight to seek restoration of Article 370, both within and outside the courts,” said the leader, wishing not to be named.

Omar denies placing J&K’s statehood over special status

Soon after Mehdi announced his resignation, Omar, in a series of tweets said he never placed the restoration of statehood above the fight for J&K’s special status.

omar abdullah ruhullah mehdi national conference jammu and kashmir

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah. Photo: PTI

He said as a former CM of the state of J&K, “will not fight an election to the assembly of the UT of J&K. That’s it. No more, no less! That’s a far cry from saying I’m demanding statehood be restored,” Omar tweeted.

On May 24 this year, Mehdi had removed his designation as the party chief spokesperson from his Twitter bio, which had set off speculation of a rift within the party.

That time, he had reacted sharply to an article written by party colleague Tanvir Sadiq, on the political roadmap ahead for Kashmir, which had skipped any reference to the dilution of Article 370.

“August 5 was an onslaught on the people of Jammu and Kashmir. We, as a party, have been professing the principle of autonomy and conditional accession to India, along with constitutional guarantees that were promised to us…what I expect is that collectively, the political parties and the entire population of J&K should speak against it. But as a party, we have primary responsibility,” Mehdi had told the Wire.

Also Read: Silence on Dilution of Article 370 Proving Damaging, Says National Conference Leader

A source said an “intermediary” spoke to Mehdi, who is still under house arrest, soon after his decision and tried to reassure him over the party’s course of action in the wake of the revocation of J&K’s special status.

Mehdi is believed to have told him that since Omar has expressed his views on “all critical issues, it is now National Conference’s official line, unless the party’s working committee decides otherwise.”

A former legislator from Central Kashmir’s Budgam district, Mehdi is also a member of the working committee, the highest decision making body of National Conference.

Mehdi’s previous history of dissent

In the past, he has openly voiced his opposition to several issues in the meeting, whether it was the “offer” to stitch a coalition with the BJP after the 2014 elections in J&K, or his opposition to allowing party workers who had successfully contested polls to local bodies as independent candidates back into the fold after the National Conference boycotted both the panchayat and municipal elections in J&K.

The source said Mehdi “feels” that if he continues in the position of chief spokesperson, it would be in “contradiction to his stand on J&K’s special position.”

On August 5 last year, the Centre unilaterally diluted Articles 370 and 35A and downgraded J&K into two UTs: Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The government then imposed a six-month-long clampdown and communication lockdown in J&K.

In April this year, when political parties renewed the demand for the restoration of statehood to J&K, Mehdi had tweeted: “I have not forgotten the humiliation I felt as a citizen of a proud STATE on the day of August 5…I have not forgotten the ugly dance of ‘democracy’ on the floor of Parliament on Aug 4th&5th last year. I have not forgotten how a coup was mounted against a population of the entire state and all their democratic and constitutional rights were murdered.”