Examiner Bureau | Srinagar:
National Conference Lok Sabha member Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi on Tuesday accused his party of diluting the mandate it received in the 2024 Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, questioning what he described as repeated changes in the party’s resolutions on the restoration of statehood.
Ruhullah said the National Conference had sought votes on an assurance that it would continue to fight for the restoration of constitutional and political rights that were withdrawn on August 5, 2019.
“We had given an assurance, an expectation and a promise to the people that we will not fight any other battle. We will only fight for the return of our constitutional rights,” he said.
Questioning the formulation of successive resolutions, Ruhullah said, “Sometimes one resolution, then a second resolution to dilute the same resolution, and then a third resolution to amend that resolution — this is a joke with the people of Kashmir.”
“If there was no clarity, if they did not know what the objective was, why did they go before the people in the election?” he asked.
His remarks come amid a renewed debate within the NC over its political agenda following Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s September 25 resolution seeking the immediate restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. The resolution also referred to earlier Assembly resolutions passed in 2000 and 2024.
Ruhullah alleged that the electoral mandate had been reduced to “a victim of convenience” and warned that people would hold those responsible accountable.
Ruhullah also criticised the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, describing alleged manipulation of votes as “the biggest theft”.
He said the vote was the principal means through which citizens could bring about political change and questioned how voters could correct the political system if their electoral rights were compromised.
“When your vote itself is stolen, how will you make any correction?” he asked.
Ruhullah also demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that the Election Commission’s credibility had suffered amid the controversy surrounding the revision of electoral rolls.
“I don’t think he has any moral justification, any ethical justification, to continue in this position,” he said, while calling for reforms to ensure that elections remain “fair and free”.
The remarks come amid an intensifying political dispute over the SIR exercise and the functioning of the Election Commission. Opposition parties have raised allegations concerning electoral-roll revisions, while the Election Commission has maintained that its decisions are part of the institution’s established decision-making process.
