National Conference MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi has publicly decided to stay away from the party’s campaign due to the party’s “inability to fulfill the promises made to the people in last year’s manifesto”. File | Photo credit: PTI
With the parliamentary assembly and Rajya Sabha polls around the corner, the ruling National Conference (NC) on Wednesday (October 22, 2025) saw itself grappling with an upset coalition partner in the Congress and an angry Member of Parliament in Aga Ruhullah Mehdi as he decided to stay away from the election campaign.
The NC held a meeting of party legislators and coalition partners in Srinagar to discuss strategy for the upcoming Rajya Sabha and two Assembly seat by-elections, apart from the J&K Assembly session scheduled for October 23. However, Congress decided not to attend the meeting chaired by NC President Farooq Abdullah and J&K Vice President and Chief Minister to Chalk adul Abdullah together with the strategy.
J&K Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) chief Tariq Hamid Karra held a separate meeting of party leaders and six party legislators in Srinagar. The Congress reviewed its relationship with the ruling NC.
“As a coalition partner, we feel aggrieved, which has to be a relationship of trust. We negotiated for a Rajya Sabha seat (with the NC) and were relegated to the fourth seat. Instead, we were offered the Nagrota assembly seat where the NC came second in the 2024 assembly elections. The Rajya Sabha election decision is not like rotating left or right, GA Mir will alternate. Congress leader and MLA, he said.
Despite the 2024 election alliance, the Congress has decided not to take up any ministerial berth in J&K “until statehood is restored”. The NC’s decision to offer the not-so-safe fourth seat to the Congress deepened the crisis between the coalition partners. J&K has four Rajya Sabha seats and polls are scheduled for October 24. NC decided to contest for all four seats.
Mr Mir asked partner NC to “look at herself”. “It should ensure that the spirit of alliance is maintained through transparency and mutual respect, especially at a time when secular and democratic values need to be strengthened in J&K,” he said.
Meanwhile, the J&K Congress leadership has prepared a feedback message to the party high command in Delhi “to accept the call for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections” and “coalition with NC”.
Mr. Omar Abdullah, on the other hand, sought the support of the Congress and the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the Rajya Sabha polls. “I hope Congress and PDP will support NC in the upcoming RS elections and help keep BJP out,” he said.
Trouble with Ruhullah
Besides an angry Congress, the NC is also trying to ensure that MP Ruhullah, an influential Shia cleric, “does not become a voting factor”. Mr Ruhullah has publicly decided to stay away from the party’s campaign due to the party’s “inability to fulfill the promises made to the people in the manifesto last year”.
NC candidate Aga Syed Mahmood, who is contesting from the Budgam seat, took a conciliatory tone towards MP Ruhullah on Wednesday (October 22). “Mr Ruhullah belongs to a well-known dynasty. He has an undeniable stature. He has won three times from Budgam since 2002. But he became an MLA because of this party,” said Mr Mahmood, also a Shia cleric.
He called his relationship with MP Ruhullah “like that of a son”. “He is my relative. However, Mr. Ruhullah will decide whether to join the campaign or not. I see my party in a good electoral position,” added Mahmood.
In a new cryptic statement made on social media platforms, Mr Ruhullah said: “I was not shaped by any agency. I was shaped by the people of Jammu and Kashmir. They taught me what no political institution could: courage, patience and conviction. I will always stand with them because they were and will always be my first and foremost priority.”
The Budgam seat will go to the polls on November 11. NC candidate Omar Abdullah won the seat in the 2024 assembly elections and decided to surrender it to retain the Ganderbala seat.
Published – 22 Oct 2025 22:14 IST
