National Conference legislators give party leaders 15-day ultimatum over cabinet expansion and internal culture

Seventeen members of the ruling National Conference (NC) gathered for a four-hour meeting in Srinagar on Friday, October 30, 2026, and issued a 15-day ultimatum to party president Farooq Abdullah and vice-president Omar Abdullah. The legislators said the party must resolve issues such as unilateral decision-making, the recent expansion of the cabinet from six to nine ministers, and what they described as a “coterie culture” that dominates party functioning.

The meeting was held at the home of NC legislator Qaiser Jamsheed Lone in the Friends Colony area and was attended by senior leaders including Mubarak Gul, Nazir Gurezi, Abdul Majeed Larmi and independent legislator Muzaffar Iqbal Khan. A joint resolution was passed and will be sent to the party leadership with the 15-day deadline.

“A kitchen-cabinet system and the coterie culture have to end. There was no formal or informal consultation with elected leaders ahead of the cabinet expansion. This is an unhealthy party culture,” said one NC leader.

“The party has to respect its own MLAs. People voted the NC to power with certain expectations. The party should discuss its failures of the past two years and work on its manifesto,” said another legislator.

Lawmakers also criticised the distribution of portfolios, alleging that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s decisions favored certain members and ignored complaints against Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary. One MLA said, “Those who failed to perform as ministers in the past two years should be dropped and not rewarded with key portfolios.”

While the legislators emphasized that the dispute is about the party’s internal functioning rather than a split, the NC currently commands the support of 50 of the 90 members in the assembly, with 42 seats held directly by the party.

The internal dissent coincides with the announced resignation of NC MP Aga Syed Ruhullah, who plans to quit Parliament on November 3 and hold a rally in central Kashmir. He accused the party leadership of breaking election promises related to Article 370, prisoner releases and the protection of Kashmiri rights.

“The crown prince and his cabal treat J&K as an estate passed down through the family… We refuse to lend our name to this humiliation,” Ruhullah said.

In response, Farooq Abdullah issued a statement confirming that legislator Haji Ali Mohammad Sagar would continue as the party’s general secretary pending further orders, a position that had previously been offered to Mubarak Gul.