Ruhullah Mehdi resigns from National Conference in Budgam rally
Member of Parliament Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi handed his resignation letter to the father of a 2010 unrest victim.
Member of Parliament Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi resigned from the ruling National Conference (NC) on Tuesday, according to the Deccan Chronicle. During a public rally in his hometown of Budgam, Mehdi entrusted Muhammad Ashraf Mattoo with delivering his resignation letter to party president Farooq Abdullah.
Mattoo is the father of Tufail Mattoo, a 17-year-old who was killed during the 2010 Kashmir unrest. Mattoo told the gathering that his long struggle for justice for his son remains unresolved and that his son's case continues to gather dust in the courts.
Mehdi launched an attack on Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, accusing him of betraying the trust of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. He stated that the Chief Minister turned a historic mandate into a betrayal and chose submission instead of leadership.
Critics on social media noted that Mehdi held the Science and Technology and Animal Husbandry portfolios in the Omar Abdullah government during the 2010 killings. The 2010 unrest resulted in the deaths of 117 people, including an 11-year-old boy.
In a separate letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker, Mehdi stated his resignation from the House is voluntary and made of his own free will. He requested the Speaker to accept the resignation under the relevant constitutional and procedural rules.