NC Labels Aga Ruhullah Mehdi's Resignation as BJP's Operation Lotus in J&K

NC Labels Aga Ruhullah Mehdi’s Resignation as BJP’s Operation Lotus in J&K

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The resignation of Srinagar Lok Sabha member Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi from the National Conference has vacated the parliamentary seat and set the stage for a by-election in the Kashmir Valley, while exposing deep fissures within Jammu and Kashmir’s ruling party and handing the BJP a fresh political weapon, The Times of India reported.

Mehdi, who had held the Srinagar seat for 24 years, announced his departure on Tuesday, November 4, 2026, at an emotional gathering in Budgam held on the 26th death anniversary of his father, Aga Syed Mehdi. The move ends his long association with the NC and leaves Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s government facing questions about its stability, even as Mehdi insisted he would not destabilize the administration.

NC Leaders Salman Sagar, Sajjad Shaheen Hit Back at Aga Ruhullah After Party Exit | News18 J&K

Within hours, the National Conference leadership accused the BJP of orchestrating the exit under a strategy it termed “Operation Lotus,” with NC legislators Salman Sagar and Sajad Shaheen declaring at a news conference in Srinagar that the MP’s resignation was the outcome of a “planned and calculated” effort to engineer defections, The Times of India reported.

NC Frames Exit as Repeat of Historical Disempowerment

The NC leaders anchored their allegations in Kashmir’s political history, with Sajad Shaheen drawing parallels to 1953, when NC founder Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah was arrested in Srinagar, and 1984, when the party split. According to The Hindu, Shaheen said the exit represented “a fresh attempt to disempower people of J&K” and questioned whether Ram Madhav’s claims of giving Mehdi his blessing were coincidental.

“We have witnessed attempts to disempower people and erode the political setup in 1953 and 1984 in J&K. It seems like a repetition,” Sajad Shaheen said.

Salman Sagar told reporters the BJP had succeeded in getting Mehdi out with his help, adding that the party’s struggle dated back to 1931 and that abandoning Articles 370 and 35A would be “political suicide.” Sagar rejected Mehdi’s claim that the party had abandoned its fight for restoring Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, arguing that if Mehdi failed to realize in 24 years that the NC was not sincere, “then it speaks about him, rather than the party.” The NC legislator further criticized Mehdi for handing his resignation to Muhammad Ashraf Mattoo, father of deceased teenager Tufail Mattoo, calling it “politicisation of martyrs,” and alleged that Mehdi had an ego issue with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary pointed to remarks by BJP national vice-president Ram Madhav in Jammu, who reportedly said Mehdi held a rally in Budgam after his resignation with the blessings of “our people,” as evidence that the MP was working under BJP direction.

Mehdi’s Four-Page Indictment of Party Leadership

Mehdi, however, delivered a sharply different account in a four-page resignation letter, accusing the NC of betraying the “anger, emotions and massive mandate” voters gave the party in the 2024 assembly polls, NDTV reported. He recalled campaigning vigorously and tirelessly for the NC in 2024, only to see the party perform an “about turn” once the electoral battle ended, abdicating its political space for “mere government” and a “vain and vague promise of so-called restoration of statehood.”

Aga syed ruhullah mehdi november
Photo: NDTV

Describing the 2019 abrogation of Article 370 and 35A as a “brazen assault” on Kashmiri rights, Mehdi wrote that the weight of history hung over the region “like the Damocles Sword” and that he could not be party to what he called the “depoliticisation and abdication of politics.” The letter cited his concerns about reservation rationalization, political prisoners, and the restoration of Article 370, noting that when he raised these issues, the party aligned itself to a stance of “total and absolute abdication.” Sources close to the MP told NDTV that he has no immediate plans to join another party and instead intends to build a youth-led collective.

BJP Denies Involvement, Points to Internal NC Crisis

The BJP rejected the “Operation Lotus” charge, with spokesperson Sajjad Yousuf Shah stating the party had nothing to do with the NC’s internal affairs and that the term was a “figment of NC’s imagination,” The Times of India reported. Shah insisted Ram Madhav’s visit to Jammu was under a preplanned party programme unrelated to the crisis.

The NC leadership also addressed reports of around 20 NC MLAs criticizing the party leadership, with Sagar saying the matter would be addressed within two to three days and that those involved “will never part ways with the party,” though he acknowledged that agencies were playing a role in the dissent.

As the Lok Sabha Speaker prepares to accept the resignation and schedule the Srinagar by-election, the question of whether Mehdi’s exit represents a genuine ideological rupture over Article 370 and political prisoners or a BJP-engineered defection remains unanswered, with both sides trading accusations of betrayal.

NC MLAs Sajad Shaheen and Salman Sagar Hold Key Press Conference at Party Headquarters in Srinagar

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