Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday said that the Opposition did not get an opportunity to raise the issue of National Conference (NC) member Farooq Abdullah’s release from house arrest and his presence in the Parliament in the Lok Sabha.

“When the Opposition tried to raise the issue that we are starting the Parliament session even when one of us, Farooq Abdullah, is not even there because he has been arrested. We were not even given the opportunity to raise the issue. So we had to raise our voice,” he told ANI.

He said that Mr Abdullah is put under house arrest through an executive order and government can revoke it whenever it wants.

“If the government wants, they can release him within one hour. So we have urged the Speaker to apprise the government on this issue,” he said.

Opposition members in Lok Sabha sought the presence of Mr Abdullah as Speaker Om Birla informed them he has written information that he was in custody.

Members of Congress, DMK, Trinamool Congress were among those who urged the Speaker to ensure the presence of Mr Abdullah. They came to the well of the House and raised slogans in favour of their demands which included the release of Mr Abdullah. Also, NCP members supported them.

Several mainstream leaders in Jammu and Kashmir, including Mr Abdullah, his son Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti have been put under house arrest following the scrapping of the provisions of Article 370 in August that granted special powers to the region.

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