3 min readJammuNov 4, 2026 08:13 PM IST First published on: Nov 4, 2026 at 08:13 PM ISTA day after Srinagar MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi quit his Lok Sabha seat and the ruling National Conference, Jammu and Kashmir’s Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary on Wednesday described him as a “decent’’ and “respectable person’’ who has been “misled” by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).“Shareef admi they. Aga sahib ek nek admi they, shareef admi they. BJP ne unko gumrah kiya. Aur kal BJP ke leader ne khud kaha ki Aga Sahib humara aadmi hai” (Aga Sahib was a decent and respectable person. BJP has misled him),” Chaudhary said while talking to media persons in Jammu.AdvertisementHe was referring to the statement made by BJP’s national general secretary Ram Madhav on Tuesday that Ruhullah’s programme had “the blessings of BJP people”.“If BJP people were in Ruhullah programme, then the entire ‘jalsa’ (rally) was of the BJP. How could Ruhullah be associated with the NC then,” Choudhary asked.Must Read | Omar Abdullah hands power, finance to new ministers in J&K cabinet reshuffleRuhullah signed a two-page resignation from the podium, in front of thousands of supporters, at a rally in Budgam on Tuesday.AdvertisementWhen asked about the reports on 10 National Conference (NC) legislators expressing their discontentment and Ruhullah accusing the party leadership, especially Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, of betraying its promise of fighting for restoration of J&K’s special status, Choudhary said: “We have always been saying that the BJP is behind it.”“Yeh main nahi keh raha, Ram Madhav sahib ne kaha hai. Party ke national leader jab yeh keh rahey hain ki Aga sahib ke programme mein humarey log wahan gaye they… (These are not my words but those of Ram Madhav. The BJP’s national leader has said that their workers had gone to attend Ruhullah’s programme),” he added.‘Why indulge in all this drama?’you may likeHowever, when pointed out that Madhav had ruled out forming a government with Ruhullah, he asked the BJP to clarify its position. “If Aga Sahib is your man, then why are you indulging in all this drama?”Also Read | As Ruhullah Mehdi resigns from NC, some praise from the BJPHe also asked media persons to go to the BJP and ask questions relating to Ruhullah, accusing its Leader of the Opposition in the J&K Assembly, Sunil Sharma, of always carrying a “lollipop’’ with him. “He has now given that `lollipop’ to Aga sahib as well,” he said.Ruhullah, a prominent Shia leader in Kashmir, had been associated with the NC for 24 years. Ruhullah contested the 2002 assembly election from Budgam after his father, Aga Syed Mehdi, was assassinated in a suspected militant attack in 2000. He chose his father’s death anniversary as the day to announce his resignation from both the party and the post.