Srinagar MP's resignation part of BJP's 'Op Lotus' plan, says NC
National Conference legislators alleged that the BJP engineered the departure of Aga Ruhullah Mehdi to weaken the governing party in Jammu and Kashmir.
The governing National Conference (NC) on Wednesday described the resignation of Srinagar MP Aga Ruhullah Mehdi as the work of the BJP. According to a report by The Times of India, the NC claimed the BJP succeeded in its mission under 'Operation Lotus'.
Addressing a news conference in Srinagar, NC legislators Salam Sagar and Sajad Shaheen alleged the MP's departure was the result of a planned and calculated strategy. Sagar said the BJP succeeded in getting Mehdi out of the NC and joined a force that has tried to weaken the party over the past 80-90 years.
The NC MLAs alleged that what occurred in Kashmir on Tuesday was similar to 'Operation Lotus' used in Parliament to engineer defections. Sagar dismissed Mehdi's claim that the NC abandoned the fight for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's special status as a ruse.
Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary accused the BJP of misleading the MP. Choudhary stated that BJP national vice-president Ram Madhav's reported remark in Jammu on Tuesday indicated Mehdi was their man.
BJP spokesperson Sajjad Yousuf Shah responded that the party has nothing to do with the internal affairs of the NC. Shah said 'Operation Lotus' was a figment of the NC's imagination and that Ram Madhav's visit to Jammu was part of a preplanned programme.