Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi
Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi (born 12 August 1976) is an Indian politician from Jammu and Kashmir and a member of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC). Since 4 June 2024, he has served as a Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha, representing Srinagar, taking the seat from Farooq Abdullah. He is also a member of the Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice.
Mehdi has been an MLA from Budgam three times (2002–2018) and has held ministerial roles in the Jammu and Kashmir government, including Science and Technology and Animal Husbandry. He is known for opposing the 2019 abrogation of Article 370 and for advocating inclusive, non-sectarian politics in Jammu and Kashmir. He belongs to the Shia Muslim community and hails from the prominent Aga family of Budgam; his father, Aga Syed Mehdi, was a respected cleric and politician.
His political career began after his father’s death in 2000. He won the Budgam assembly seat in 2002, and later in 2008 and 2014. In 2009, he became the youngest cabinet minister in India. In 2015, he was named Chief Spokesperson of the National Conference, a post he left in 2020 after disagreements with the party over Article 370. Internationally, he was selected in 2006 by the U.S. Embassy for the International Visitors Leadership Program, and in 2010 CNN-IBN named him the Youngest Indian Leader. He won the Srinagar seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by about 180,000 votes.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 18:46 (CET).