Touseef Hamdani
Srinagar, Aug 9: National Conference Rajya Sabha member Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan has said Srinagar MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi should resign and seek a fresh mandate if he believes the votes secured in the Lok Sabha election belonged to him personally rather than the party.
“If MP Ruhullah says it is his vote, he has to prove it first. He contested the election on the National Conference ticket. The mandate was given through the party,” Ramzan said in an interview to KNS.
“If he resigns and contests again and the people bring him back, I will be the first person to congratulate him,” he said.
Ramzan was responding to questions over the ongoing differences within the National Conference and the issue of electoral mandate.
On the party’s protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, Ramzan rejected criticism that the demonstration had failed to attract adequate participation.
He said the protest was organised by elected representatives of Jammu and Kashmir and opposition parties had also been invited to participate.
“We did not invite people for a mass gathering. We invited the opposition because this is not only a National Conference issue. It is an issue concerning Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
Ramzan said representatives of several opposition parties participated in the protest and the delegation also met people in Delhi.
“It was a very successful demonstration. At the national level, people took note of it and the Central Government also took note,” he said.
The NC leader also rejected criticism that the party had abandoned its demand for restoration of Article 370 after shifting its immediate focus to statehood.
“This is a misconception that we have left any issue on which we fought the elections,” Ramzan said.
He said the first Cabinet resolution passed by the Jammu and Kashmir government after assuming office dealt with the restoration of constitutional rights.
“We have not left any issue. Our struggle is for the restoration of our constitutional rights. But our approach is different,” he said.
Ramzan said the party wanted to pursue its objectives in a phased manner, with restoration of statehood being an immediate priority.
He said the people of Jammu and Kashmir had given the National Conference a clear mandate in the Assembly elections and the party was now working towards restoration of statehood while continuing its larger political struggle over constitutional rights.
Responding to criticism that the Jantar Mantar protest did not receive adequate attention in Kashmir, Ramzan said several other demonstrations were being held in Delhi at the same time.
He maintained that the Centre and its agencies would have taken note of the NC’s protest.
The Rajya Sabha member said the participation of opposition parties in programmes supporting restoration of statehood demonstrated that the issue had received attention at the national level.
He said the National Conference would continue to raise the issues of statehood and restoration of constitutional rights.(KNS).
