Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday faced Enforcement Directorate grilling for the second time in three days, and this time coinciding with his 84th birthday, prompting his party to ask if the Centre was “comfortable being seen as a bully by the nation”.

Farooq’s questioning comes days after he led an initiative to form an alliance to press for the restoration of Article 370, which granted a special status to Jammu and Kashmir but was scrapped on August 5 last year. Political parties here termed the ED action a “vendetta”.

The former chief minister, National Conference president and Srinagar MP is being questioned in connection with a purported scam in 2012 at the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association, which he then headed.

“This on a day when my father turns 84!” son and former chief minister Omar Abdullah tweeted.

Farooq was in jail on his previous birthday, arrested on August 4 last year — on the eve of the revocation of Article 370 — amid a crackdown on politicians and activists to pre-empt protests. He was released in March this year.

Omar, who too was arrested that day, turned 50 in jail in March.

Farooq’s younger brother Mustafa Kamal accused the government of playing with the veteran politician’s health.

“He was not served even lunch (during questioning despite the government) knowing full well that he is diabetic. They want to break his resolve and vilify him, but they won’t be able to do so,” Kamal told The Telegraph.

“Even my elder sister (Khalida Shah), who is 86, was incarcerated (put under house arrest) for months last year.”

Asserting that the ED had grilled Farooq for six hours on Monday, National Conference spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar questioned the need to summon him again.

“What is it that the ED forgot to ask during the six hours?” Dar said.

Farooq was questioned for five hours on Wednesday and drove off from the ED office without talking to reporters.

“The government and its agencies have no consideration for a law-abiding citizen who is severely immuno-compromised and diabetic,” Dar said. “(Farooq) being treated like this is proof that the BJP is not even interested in a face-saving act and is completely comfortable with being seen as a bully by the nation.”

Dar added: “How many times will the BJP use the CBI, ED, anti-corruption bureau and its other agencies to browbeat Opposition (politicians)? The plot has become predictable. Anyone who speaks against the government or musters courage against its divisive politics will be hounded and summoned.”

Dar said the only way to get a clean chit these days was to surrender one’s ideology and join the BJP.

“We’ve seen this story play out from Assam to Karnataka, from Bengal to Andhra Pradesh, but Dr Abdullah is not going to surrender to the BJP, come what may,” he said.

BJP spokesperson Anil Gupta denied the ED had done anything wrong, and insisted that the agency was an autonomous body.

He said Farooq was involved in the cricket association scam and had “used both hands to gather the money”.

“The case was going on. The timing -- when they want to investigate or question --- is decided by the agency. They are not BJP agencies; they are agencies of the Indian government. They are autonomous bodies,” he said.