Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi has taken a decision that may prove far more consequential for his own political future than for the National Conference.

His differences with the party leadership are neither imaginary nor insignificant. Ruhullah has consistently argued that the National Conference cannot allow restoration of statehood to become a substitute for its larger political commitment to the restoration of the constitutional position represented by Articles 370 and 35-A. 

That is a legitimate political position. Indeed, there is considerable force in the argument that a party which sought votes on constitutional questions must continue to articulate them after coming to power.

But disagreement with one’s party and departure from it are two very different things.

Ruhullah has announced that he proposes to resign both from the Lok Sabha and from the National Conference on November 3. His decision follows a prolonged public disagreement with the party leadership and Dr Farooq Abdullah’s challenge to him to seek a fresh mandate outside the party.

Whether the proposed resignation ultimately takes place or not, the episode brings back an interesting lesson from the political history of Jammu and Kashmir.

The National Conference has survived many rebellions. The rebels have not always survived the grand old party of Kashmir. 

That statement is not intended as praise for everything the party has done. The National Conference has committed its share of political mistakes, some of them serious enough to remain subjects of historical debate. 

But political parties are not judged merely by the correctness of every decision taken by their leaders. They are also institutions created over decades, with an organisation, a symbol, a political memory and an emotional relationship with sections of the electorate.

Individual leaders sometimes discover this distinction only after leaving.

Mirza Mohammad Afzal Beg gives an early and striking example. Few men were closer to Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, with their political association spanning decades. But when the two fell out in 1978, Beg resigned as Deputy........

© Kashmir Observer