ByMuhammad Arbaaz Niazi

Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi’s decision to leave the National Conference on November 3 brings an uncomfortable question to Kashmir’s politics: who owns an electoral mandate after the votes have been counted? 

The party that wins an election gains the authority to govern, but it does not acquire permanent ownership of the public trust. 

That trust rests on promises, performance and the willingness of elected leaders to answer for their choices.

Ruhullah intends to surrender both his party membership and his Srinagar parliamentary seat, which he won in 2024. The date coincides with the death anniversary of his father, Aga Syed Mehdi. 

His departure follows months of disagreement with the Omar Abdullah government over Article 370, reservation policy and other contentious public issues.

The decision has consequences beyond the relationship between an MP and his party. It exposes a political difficulty the National Conference has struggled to confront since returning to power: the distance between the commitments that won votes and the choices made in office.

Restoration of special status was central to the NC’s 2024 campaign, alongside the demand for statehood. Since forming the government, its leadership has spoken extensively about statehood and the constitutional limits imposed on Jammu and Kashmir as a Union Territory. 

Those constraints are real. 

NC’s Internal Churning Continues Amid Leadership Denials

No Dissent in NC, Legislators’ Meeting Was Routine: Provincial President Mir

The Assembly cannot reverse the constitutional changes of August 2019, and the chief minister lacks the authority enjoyed by a government of a full-fledged state.

But constitutional limitations cannot become a permanent substitute for political accountability. 

The NC knew the constitutional position before asking voters for their support. The electorate knew it too. People still chose a party that made specific commitments about the future of Jammu and Kashmir.

The government owes them a clear account of what it has done to pursue those commitments, what it has taken up with the Centre and what it intends to do next. 

Statehood........

© Kashmir Observer