Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Apr 26: Jammu and Kashmir National Conference’s Member of Parliament Aga Ruhullah Mehdi on Sunday alleged that the Omar Abdullah-led government has abandoned its core political promise of restoring Article 370 and related constitutional safeguards for Jammu and Kashmir.
The disgruntled MP, who has been critical of his party, further claimed that in recent months the elected government has not even been pursuing the Business Rules, alleging that they been keeping silence after certain decisions and protocols were approved by New Delhi for select individuals.
Mehdi said his party “hates” him and that he has differences with its leadership over the issues on which it secured its mandate in the last Assembly elections.
“We (NC) did not ask for votes on statehood alone. We promised that we would fight for the restoration of protections and constitutional guarantees. That was our principal commitment,” the MP told reporters on the sidelines of a function in Srinagar.
He argued that public anger is growing because the government has “left the fight.”
Mehdi maintained that his disagreements stem from what he described as a shift in priorities. “People did not vote merely for statehood. If that was the case, they could have voted for the Bharatiya Janata Party, which promised statehood repeatedly,” he said.
The MP said the electorate rejected that idea and instead backed the NC that pledged to restore constitutional protections.
“To now reduce the mandate to statehood alone is unjust and a compromise with the people’s trust,” he added.
He further criticized what he termed as a lack of consistent political engagement on key issues. Mehdi noted that while the government earlier raised concerns over Business Rules approvals, even that effort appears to have faded in recent months.
“For the past few months, I think they are not even asking for the Business Rules. Some things were approved from Delhi, some protocols were approved for some individuals. They have become silent. Now they are not fighting for the business rules. Now they are not fighting for the statehood. Now they are not fighting for the constitutional guarantees of the people of J&K,” MP said.
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