Farooq Abdullah's inclusion in Parliamentary Consultative Committee of no use: Minister

Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president and Congress lawmaker Ripun Bora said that the inclusion of former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah in the strategically important Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Defence is of no use as he is neither able to attend the Parliament nor allowed to attend consultative committee meeting. Abdullah has been under house arrest at his residence in Srinagar since the Central government's decision on Article 370 in August.

New Delhi:Days after the former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah hit the headlines for being nominated to a 21-member parliamentary consultative committee on defence as a member in the strategically important Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Defence, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president and Congress lawmaker Ripun Bora termed it as a "dictatorial type of functioning of the government."

Abdullah's name got highlighted in the list as he has been under house arrest at his residence in Srinagar since the Central government's decision on Article 370 in August.

"When government abrogated Article 370 from J&K, Farooq Abdullah was put under house arrest and subsequently detained under stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) after being accused of having tremendous potential to create public disorder. This is unfortunate. Farooq Abdullah may be from National Conference but he is a tall figure in national politics. His patriotism is beyond doubt. He is under house arrest and entire opposition is demanding his release," said Bora in an exclusive interview to ETV Bharat.

Stating that Abdullah deserves to be included in strategically important Defence Consultative Committee, Bora said, "But this is quite undemocratic and dictatorial style of functioning. His inclusion in the Defence Committee is of no use. He is neither able to attend the Parliament nor allowed to attend consultative committee meeting," said Bora.

After the formation of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Defence in October, a few meetings already took place.

Terming it as irony, the APCC chief said, "The government is just doing formalities. He (Farooq Abdullah) is neither allowed to attend any meeting nor his advice is taken. This is an insult."

In a recent notification issued by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, the centre appointed a 21 member consultative committee for the ministry of defence headed by Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, with Farooq Abdullah at the top of all other members.

Apart from Dr Farooq Abdullah, Chhedi Paswan, Supriya Sule, Sharad Pawar and JP Nadda have also been nominated for the 21-member parliamentary consultative committee.

Interestingly, BJP MP Pragya Thakur, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts case in Maharastra has also been included in the Defence Committee.

"Since Pragya Thakur is an elected MP, she is eligible to be a member in any of the committee. Whether she has any case or not, this is not a criteria to bar her to be a member of any committee," Bora added.