Senior National Conference leader and Member of Parliament Srinagar, Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi is scheduled to address a public convention at the Dak Bungalow Sopore on Friday. However, the event has raised questions within the party as local NC functionaries, including the sitting MLA from Sopore, have reportedly not been informed.
MLA Sopore said he had no official communication or directive from the party regarding the convention. “I have not received any instructions from the party headquarters about program,” the legislator said.
The development has once again brought to surface the underlying tensions between Ruhullah and the National Conference leadership, particularly following a series of disagreements in recent months.
Sources within the party said that the rift between Ruhullah and the top leadership has been growing steadily, especially after his vocal opposition to the Union Government’s reservation policy in Jammu and Kashmir. Ruhullah had distanced himself from the party’s silence on the issue, and even led a protest against the policy without formal backing from NC.
In May, Ruhullah reportedly walked out of an NC Working Committee meeting following a disagreement with party vice-president Omar Abdullah. He later in a space room of “X” said that he had “not been in touch with party leadership for a long time” and that “the disconnect is known to all.”(KNS)
