SRINAGAR: Srinagar MP Aga Ruhullah Mehdi once again launched a sharp attack on his own party, National Conference, accusing it abandoning Article 370 and “begging” for statehood.Addressing his followers in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Thursday, Mehdi said for the first time in 40 years, people voted in large numbers in the Oct 2024 assembly polls because they were frustrated with the system. “They didn’t vote for any party, but for a system that would be answerable to them,” Mehdi said. But, despite scaling down on the political front, “we have been turned into beggars”, he said.“It is better to fight for our rights and be defeated than to resort to begging every day for every small thing,” he asserted.Mehdi, who was invited by the civil society of Anantnag to address people at the town hall, alleged that the district administration locked the building, forcing organisers to change the venue. “People were threatened and intimidated not to attend my meeting. If such tactics are adopted, where are we supposed to go?” he questioned.Referring to the arrest of AAP MLA Mehraj Malik under Public Safety Act, Mehdi said it was a warning to all political voices.Iftikhar Misgar, president of Anantnag Federation of Chambers of Industries Kashmir, said the MP was scheduled to address the gathering at the town hall, but the administration on Thursday declared the building unsafe and locked it, even though forest minister Javed Rana had addressed a gathering there just a day earlier.Reacting to Mehdi’s allegation, former CM and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said it was “unfortunate” that a sitting MP was not allowed to hold a meeting by his own govt. “At a time when Farooq sahib and Omar sahib are rightly voicing concern over the arrest of MLA Mehraj Malik, such restrictions on their own party’s MP raise serious questions. It exposes a disturbing level of double standards and political hypocrisy,” she said.