NC’s 45 seats can become 15 if party doesn’t learn from its mistakes: MP Aga Ruhullah

STC NEWS DESK
SRINAGAR, JULY 16 (STC): Blaming the National Conference (NC) for straying from the agenda on which it sought votes, its Srinagar MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi has warned that the party could face electoral consequences if it fails to reconnect with its core promises.
Speaking during an interaction with the netizens on X Spaces, Ruhullah argued that the NC’s primary electoral promise was to challenge the decisions of August 5, 2019, when Jammu and Kashmir’s special status was revoked and the erstwhile state was reorganised into two Union Territories.
According to Ruhullah, statehood restoration alone was never the party’s central agenda during the elections.
He said, “I was forced to sit on this chair. I never wanted any chair or perks. Now that I am sitting on this chair, I am trying to serve the cause. Take my resignation tomorrow itself, but come back to the agenda you were voted for and return to the people’s mandate.”
“Had people been told during the elections that the only objective was to get statehood restored, they would have chosen the easiest option and voted for the BJP, which had also promised statehood in its manifesto,” he said.
Ruhullah alleged that the party had deviated from the commitments it made to voters and warned that such a course could prove costly in future elections.
“The party should learn from its mistakes. If the party has secured 45 seats today, it can come down to 15 in the next election,” he said.
He said the National Conference had gone to the people with a promise to challenge the post-August 5, 2019, political arrangement.
“People gave the National Conference a mandate for a particular agenda. The party’s agenda before the elections was to challenge those decisions. Now it has deviated from that path,” he said.
Ruhullah rejected suggestions that he had acted against the party’s interests, asserting that he was, instead, trying to uphold the party’s original commitments.
“If I had betrayed that agenda or deviated from that mandate, I should be told to quit. On the contrary, it is the party that has moved away from its agenda,” he said.
He also defended his decision to continue voicing dissent despite criticism from within the party.
“Some people say that because the party has numbers, its deviation is justified and I should quit. But I am not going against the party’s policies. I am alone and fighting because the party has deviated from its agenda,” Ruhullah said.

(Straight Talk Communications)