Srinagar: National Conference Lok Sabha MP Aga Ruhullah on Sunday accused Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of warming up to the BJP-led Centre and forgetting the goal of getting the Union Territory statehood – a key promise in the party’s election manifesto.
The Srinagar MP alleged that the fight before the elections was for the restoration of the people’s rights and statehood, but that fight was now forgotten.
“If normalising relations with the establishment in Delhi was the purpose, they should have said it to the people during elections,” the lawmaker said at a conclave organised by a portal here.
Ruhullah said that it could be argued that the goal of statehood was deferred for the sake of routine governance, but that did not seem to be the case either.
“I will not say that under routine governance everything could have been done in one year, but what could have been, has not happened. Now is the time for the party to introspect,” he said.
The leader also criticised the chief minister, without naming him, on the students’ demand to revisit the reservation in the Union Territory.
“I was surprised when it was said (by Omar Abdullah) that he will not come under anybody’s pressure. It was shocking for me. After 2019, there was hopelessness and subjugation … people were not allowed to raise their voice, but they had a hope that through the vote they would elect a government which would listen to them … But the same ruler says he will not come under the pressure of the people,” he said.
Ruhullah accused Abdullah of treating the students’ demand with “arrogance” and asked him to use the same tone with the BJP. Terming Abdullah’s statement about his ability to withstand public pressure on the issue of reservation as “shocking”, Ruhullah said that these are the people who elected him, yet he is going against them instead of working for their betterment.
He said the reservation issue should have remained a government priority, but unfortunately, nothing concrete is being done.
He said he could not campaign for the NC candidate in the Budgam bypoll because he could not justify his party’s “volte face” after coming to power, especially on the issue of smart electricity metres.
Ruhullah said that during the 2024 election campaign, the NC promised to restore what was taken from the people and to fight for everything, but now, in power, they are compromising and limiting their fight only to statehood.
He said that before the elections, they accused other parties of having ties with the BJP and supporting the August 5 decision, but now the NC is doing the same, following what BJP allies had advocated earlier.
“NC is going against what it promised during the election campaign. What will I tell the people of Budgam if I go there for campaigning again?”
“People voted in 2024 in favor of the NC to fight against the BJP rule, where people were made to feel suffocated, but in return, the elected CM is saying ‘I’m not afraid of the people’ is shocking and unexpected,” he said.
“The language he (CM) should have used against the BJP, he is using it against his own people. ‘I’m not afraid of anyone’—he should have said this to Delhi, but he is saying it to the very people who elected him to get some relief.”
On routine governance, he said the NC has failed there as well, adding, “Last year we told people we would remove these smart meters, but now, in power, we are supporting installation of these meters.”
Responding to criticism that he was elected to the Lok Sabha only because he fought on the NC, Ruhullah said if that were the case, the party should have won the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat as well.
“Three (NC) candidates contested the Parliamentary election. I, Mian Altaf Sahab, and the third candidate. If someone only gets elected on the party name, then the first result should have come from Baramulla, and the highest result should have come from there,” he said.
Omar Abdullah lost the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Baramulla seat to Independent candidate Abdul Rashid Sheikh by more than 200,000 votes. (With inputs from PTI & KNO)
