Srinagar, Nov 16: Member of Parliament Srinagar and National Conference leader, Agha Ruhullah on Sunday said that his silence during the Budgam bypoll campaign was not a “message” to anyone but a refusal to “accept power that betrays people.”
Ruhullah who addressed the workers at his Budgam residence after returning from Germany was reacting to CM Omar Abdullah’s remarks that Ruhullah’s silence in Budgam Bypolls was message to him.
Reacting to Omar’s comments, Ruhullah said that he did not remain silent to send anyone a message. “I remained silent because I will not become part of a power that goes against the people.”
Ruhullah accused the National Conference leadership of shifting away from the commitments made to voters during the 2024 Assembly elections.
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He launched a stinging critique at the 40 NC MLAs who, he said, “roamed every lane and bylane of Budgam” during the bypoll campaign, accompanied by their leaders and “armed with money power and arrogance”. “Those same MLAs have never visited these lanes before, nor will they ever come back,” he said.
He recalled that the same NC candidates had “ferried” him from Kupwara to Qazigund during the 2024 Assembly elections, insisting that he campaign for them relentlessly. “They did not give me even five minutes of rest. They told me, ‘If you don’t come, it will damage us.’ I told them to keep the promises they are making to people so they won’t need me tomorrow, the voters themselves will stand with them,” he said.
Referring to Omar Abdullah directly, Ruhullah said he had reminded him during last year’s campaign that Budgam was going to the polls for the fourth time since he entered politics. “In every election, I increased my vote share by honouring the commitments made to people. This time you were contesting instead of me, I promised to ensure the same increase in your votes,” he said.
He added that he had believed the 2024 victory and the formation of the present government would strengthen his ongoing fight in Parliament over the past four months. “But they betrayed the people,” he said, without naming the Chief Minister. (KNS)
