Budgam defeat, Ruhullah’s dissent, ‘dual governance’ hurdles dominate NC Working Committee meet

Srinagar, Nov 27: The reasons for the defeat of the ruling National Conference (NC) in Budgam bypolls, the desire for cabinet expansion, the performance of the government during its first year, and the problems faced in governance due to the “dual structure” remained the key discussion highlights of the first-day of the party’s two-day Working Committee meeting chaired by NC President Farooq Abdullah at Nawa-e-Subh headquarters here Thursday.

The meeting was also attended by the Chief Minister and NC Vice President, Omar Abdullah, along with all Working Committee members and special invitees.

According to a senior NC leader, during the meeting that started at 11 am and concluded for the day at 5:30 pm, the party leadership stressed that NC lost the bypolls in Budgam not because the estranged NC Member of Parliament Aga Syed Ruhullah did not throw his weight behind the party candidate, but because it felt the party decided to give mandate to Aga Syed Mehmood very late.

He said that the NC leadership highlighted that the party had not given much thought to who would contest the Budgam bypolls after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who had won from both Budgam and Ganderbal assembly constituencies in the 2024 Assembly elections and vacated the Budgam seat while retaining the family’s bastion Ganderbal.

The senior NC leader said the party leadership felt that even if NC had zeroed in on who it would field for the Budgam bypolls six months earlier, the results would have been different.

He said that the NC leaders stressed that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) not increasing their vote share to what it got in the 2024 Assembly elections by much proves that there was no anti-incumbency against the government.

NC lost the Budgam assembly seat for the first time, ending its uninterrupted dominance over the constituency for decades, with PDP candidate Aga Syed Muntazir defeating NC’s Aga Syed Mehmood by a margin of 4478 votes.

Another NC leader said that some party leaders even highlighted that the votes by a particular sect had gone against the NC and in favour of novice and rookie politicians because of the anti-incumbency against Ruhullah, who they accused of years of discrimination against the people from that sect.

About Ruhullah putting the party on notice and calling for resolving the reservation issue before the winter session of the Parliament, he said the NC leadership came to a conclusion that nobody can, and nobody should be allowed to dictate terms to the party.

The senior NC leader said that, while the party leadership backed the demand of the general category candidates of reviewing the existing reservation policy, it held that the government should do it for the public welfare on its own, not under pressure of Ruhullah or any other individual.

He said that the party leadership also held that Ruhullah had been elected as a Member of Parliament after getting the mandate and backing of the party and that he had not won the seat on his own.

The senior NC leader said that the party leadership held that no “anti-party activity” by Ruhullah or any other party leader would be tolerated.

Ruhullah has asked the NC-led government to resolve the reservation issue before the winter session of the Parliament ends on December 19, saying he will join the quota protests if no action is taken.

The senior NC leader said that Member of Parliament Mian Altaf Ahmad, who had earlier backed Ruhullah and warned Chief Minister Omar Abdullah about the “failure” of his government in providing better governance and jobs to the people during his tenure as CM, was “calm and composed” throughout the meeting and stressed that there was a need to run the government smoothly without indulging in confrontation.

He said that feedback was sought from every MLA about their constituencies, and most legislators blamed the “dual structure” of governance and the “red tape” for the problems being faced in carrying out developmental activities.

According to another NC leader, the CWC meeting also stressed the need for cabinet expansion and having ministerial representation from regions missing from the cabinet.

All the main party leaders, including Members of Parliament other than Ruhullah, attended the meeting.

The NC leadership had not invited Ruhullah to attend the CWC.

The NC leader said that while the legislators and other senior NC leaders gave their suggestions and provided feedback, NC President and three-time chief minister Farooq Abdullah and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is also the Vice President of the party, mostly listened to what the party leaders and legislators had to say.

He said that while both the leaders made several interjections, the NC president and vice president are expected to deliver speeches on Friday after receiving feedback from every party leader and legislator.

Talking to Greater Kashmir, NC state spokesman Imran Nabi Dar said, “The NC President and Vice President are all ears to the party leaders today. Twenty people, including MPs and MLAs, spoke at length today.”

He said that besides the party leaders, the NC CWC meeting was also attended by MP from Ladakh, Muhammad Haneefa Jan and independent MLA from Chhamb, Satish Sharma.

Imran said that during the meeting, the Budgam bypolls debacle was discussed threadbare, and a discussion was also held about the performance of the government during the past one year and about charting the future course of action.

“Many legislators said that due to the ‘dual structure’ of governance, ‘bureaucratic hurdles’ were coming in their way while they try to get public works done,” he said.

Imran said that the party high command directed the MLAs to come up with a detailed list of developmental works carried out in their constituencies during the past year.

He said that Member of Parliament Mian Altaf talked about the situation in the country following the Delhi car blast.

“Altaf Sahab expressed his concern on how, following the Delhi car blast, the situation was becoming difficult for Kashmiris studying or working in different parts of the country and also about the condition of Muslims in the country,” Imran said.

He said that the future strategy that the party would adopt about the restoration of statehood, already been promised by the Centre, would be decided on Friday.

Imran said that the party high command also agreed to the suggestions of cabinet expansion and giving representation to the left-out regions in the cabinet.

“The cabinet expansion may take place soon,” he said.

NC Additional General Secretary Ajay Sadhotra, Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary, Advisor to the Chief Minister Nasir Aslam Wani, Cabinet Ministers Sakina Itoo, Javed Ahmad Dar, Satish Sharma, Members of Parliament Choudhary Muhammad Ramzan, Sajad Kichloo, Shami Oberoi, NC Provincial Presidents Ratan Lal Gupta and Showkat Ahmad Mir, as well as other Working Committee members and special invitees were also present during the meeting.

The meeting will continue on Friday.

According to senior NC leaders, the important issue of restoration of statehood to J&K would be discussed during the meeting on Friday, following which the party would chart the future strategy.

The Supreme Court, on October 10, 2025, gave four weeks to the Government of India (GoI) to respond to pleas seeking restoration of statehood to J&K.

The last NC Working Committee meeting was held on May 21, 2025, following which the party passed a seven-point resolution calling for the restoration of J&K’s special status and full statehood.