We are not criminals, says Farooq Abdullah
New Delhi: "We are not criminals," says Lok Sabha member and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah in a letter to Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on his personal letterhead which mentions his residence as "sub-jail".
Abdullah, under detention since August 5 and subsequently booked under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) on September 17, is at present at his residence in Gupkar which has been declared as a sub-jail.
Abdullah is among a host of political leaders who have been detained on August 5 after the Centre withdrew special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and bifurcated the state into union territories.
Tharoor, a Lok Sabha member from Kerala, had written a letter to Abdullah on October 21 which was delivered to him on December 2. The contents of the letter were not available.
In his one paragraph reply, Abdullah, a three-time former chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, thanked Tharoor for his letter.
He said the October 21 letter was delivered to him on December 21 by the magistrate who looks after him in the sub-jail.
"It is most unfortunate that they are not able to deliver me my post in time. I am sure this is not the way to treat a senior Member of the Parliament and leader of a political party. We are not criminals," Abdullah wrote in his reply, which has been shared by Tharoor on his Twitter handle.
In his tweet, Tharoor said parliamentarians should be allowed to allowed to attend "the session as a matter of parliamentary privilege".
"Otherwise the tool of arrest can be used to muzzle opposition voices. Participation in Parliament is essential 4 (for) democracy and popular sovereignty," he added.
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Sonia Gandhi's attempt to launch Rahul from Raebareli will fail: Amit Shah
Hukkeri (PTI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh after running away from Amethi and predicted that he will lose the polls there against the BJP candidate by a huge margin.
He also said former AICC President Sonia Gandhi's multiple attempts to "launch" Rahul Gandhi had failed and claimed that this was the twenty-first attempt.
The top BJP leader addressed a public meeting here in Belagavi district for party candidate from Chikkodi Lok Sabha segment Annasaheb Jolle.
"Modi ji tried and at once Chandrayaan (mission to Moon) got launched. Sonia Gandhi has launched this 'yaan' named Rahul Baba (Rahul Gandhi) twenty times, but her launching has not been successful. Today for the twenty-first time, running away from Amethi, he has filed nomination from Raebareli," Shah said.
He said, "Rahul Baba, I'm telling the result of Raebareli from here. Against BJP's candidate Dinesh Pratap Singh, you will lose by a huge margin. Write down my words."
Rahul Gandhi is contesting the elections from the Raebareli seat in Uttar Pradesh, the constituency held by his mother Sonia Gandhi for the last two decades.
Kishori Lal Sharma, a close aide of the Gandhi family, has been fielded from the Amethi Lok Sabha seat, the party said in a statement on Friday.
The two seats will go to polls on May 20 in the fifth of the seven-phase general election.
Ending days of suspense, the party announced the candidates from the two seats on Friday.
Raebareli is a constituency which had earlier elected Rahul Gandhi's mother Sonia Gandhi, his grandmother Indira Gandhi and his grandfather Feroze Gandhi.
The constituency has also been represented by family members and friends of the Gandhi-Nehru family.
Rahul Gandhi has also contested the ongoing Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad in Kerala which went to polls on April 26.
