Signalling a deepening political divergence over governance priorities rather than a fresh rupture, Srinagar MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi on Sunday asserted that the ruling Jammu and Kashmir National Conference has effectively “stopped striving” for restoration of Article 370, describing it as an “injustice with the people’s mandate.”
Addressing reporters after a public event, Mehdi framed his criticism as a reflection of public sentiment, saying the party’s electoral commitment was anchored in restoring constitutional guarantees rather than pursuing limited administrative goals.
“The National Conference leadership’s primary promise to the people was to pursue an institutional struggle for the restoration of Article 370 and constitutional protections,” he said, adding that “they (NC) dislike me because I continue to remind them of those principles.” He rejected the argument that statehood alone constituted the core public mandate. “People did not vote merely for the restoration of statehood. Had that been the case, they might have supported the BJP, which had itself assured statehood in Parliament,” he said, referring to the Bharatiya Janata Party. According to Mehdi, the party initially recalibrated its position by prioritising statehood as an “achievable” step, but has since retreated further. “Now, in its second year, the government appears to have abandoned even the demand for statehood,” he said.He also pointed to what he described as a pattern of policy retreat. “For some time, they pursued the issue of business rules, but that effort has also been abandoned. After certain decisions and protocols were approved by New Delhi for select individuals, the leadership has chosen silence,” he said. “
In effect, the government is no longer actively pursuing statehood, constitutional protections, or even business rules. This represents a betrayal of the people’s mandate.” Mehdi said the growing public discontent mirrors his own position. “There is visible resentment among the people. I reflect that sentiment while maintaining my differences,” he said.
Expanding his remarks to national developments, Mehdi criticised the defeated Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, linking it to a potential delimitation exercise tied to the implementation of the Women’s Reservation Bill. He clarified that the women’s quota legislation remains in force but argued that the rejected proposal could have enabled structural distortions.
“What has been defeated is a so-called delimitation bill that would have led to gerrymandering, similar to what was done in Jammu and Kashmir. Constituency boundaries were altered along communal lines,” he alleged.
He warned that the proposed expansion of parliamentary seats could have shifted national power dynamics. “States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan would have seen a substantial increase in seats—potentially around 400 collectively—allowing them to take decisions for the entire country,” he said, adding that such a framework could marginalise southern states, West Bengal and several northeastern regions. Drawing a parallel with the 2019 developments surrounding Article 370, Mehdi questioned the democratic legitimacy of such processes. “Was Article 370 removed with the concurrence of the people of Jammu and Kashmir? No. Similarly, this bill would have disenfranchised several regions,” he said.
Reiterating his central argument, Mehdi maintained that even a phased political approach is no longer visible. “Even if we accept the argument of pursuing what is achievable first, this government does not seem to be fighting for even statehood now. This, to me, is an injustice with the mandate of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” he added. The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, which proposed increasing the strength of the Lok Sabha from 543 to 816 seats following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census, failed to pass in Parliament after falling short of the required two-thirds majority, with 298 votes in favour and 230 against, against the required 352.
