Srinagar, Feb 16 (KNO): The three-time chief minister of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir and National Conference (NC) president, Dr Farooq Abdullah might have been vocal against the incumbent central government but he has asked 11 questions to the government in the parliament during the 17th Lok Sabha.
The NC president in his fourth term as Member of Parliament (MP) from Srinagar parliamentary constituency missed three sessions completely out of total 15 in the last five years.
According to PRS Legislative Research, a non-profit organization tracking performance of parliamentarians and legislators, the average number of questions asked by an MP during this period is 210 and from the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir is 103.
Abdullah as per the research accessed by the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) has overall attendance of 61 per cent while the octogenarian leader has 100 percent attendance in only one session—Special Session 2023 and 92 percent and 90 percent in Winter Session 2022 and Monsoon Session 2020 respectively.
However, Abdullah has missed three sessions including Winter Session 2019, Budget Session 2020 and Monsoon Session 2021.
He has participated in just 11 debates which include the need to restore Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir in Special Mention on 22-09-2020.
The eleven questions asked by the parliamentarian from Srinagar mostly focus on development in Jammu & Kashmir and also the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits.
It is pertinent to mention that Tariq Hamid Karra represented the same constituency for the period of just two years from 204-2016. His performance was a bit better than Farooq Abdullah as he had asked 20 questions and participated in four debates with 34 per cent attendance in two years tenure.
Notably, KNO in its earlier reports mentioned the performance of other two NC MPs from Kashmir including Muhammad Akbar Lone and Hasnain Masoodi. Masoodi is the top performer among the three parliamentarians from Kashmir, who has an overall attendance of 85 per cent and participated in 126 debates and asked 73 questions from 2019-2024—(KNO)
