Thiruvananthapuram | Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday said the opposition would raise a range of issues, including the alleged misappropriation of donations at the Ayodhya Ram temple, controversy surrounding the NEET, unemployment, inflation and the introduction of E20 ethanol-blended fuel, during the upcoming Parliament session.

Speaking to reporters at the city airport, Tharoor said the session could be "constructive and productive" if the opposition was allowed to raise its concerns.

"The theft and misappropriation of donations in the Ayodhya temple has agitated a lot of people. We are very concerned about the crisis facing the students after the failure of the NEET exam and the CBSE exam. The nation is worried about unemployment, inflation and this new complication with E20 fuel," he said.

The opposition has several issues it wants to raise, and the government also has its own agenda.

"It should be a very constructive and productive session if everyone gets a chance to speak. But if the government follows its usual practice of not allowing the opposition to raise issues, then I really worry about how this Parliament session will proceed," he said.

Referring to the alleged irregularities in donations made at the Ayodhya Ram temple, Tharoor said the matter required accountability and a thorough investigation.

"If those entrusted with running the temple have betrayed the faith of devotees who donated from their own pockets and hearts, it is a shocking betrayal. There has to be accountability, investigation and systems to ensure that when people make donations, the money reaches the temple and not the pockets of officials or swindlers," he said.

Commenting on recent political developments, the Thiruvananthapuram MP alleged that splits in opposition parties appeared to have been engineered to strengthen the NDA's numbers in Parliament.

"If you look at what has been happening to both the Trinamool Congress and the Shiv Sena of (Uddhav) Thackeray, there have been engineered splits which have created a situation where two-thirds of the elected MPs in that legislature party have shifted allegiance. The result of that appears to be that, if the Speaker accepts this shift, the number of votes available to the NDA will suddenly go up," he said.

"I think with constitutional amendments in their mind, there may be some interest in trying to raise their total," he said.

Tharoor said that it is not a good sign in a democracy.

"And I ask the public, the voters who voted for these MPs, is this what they wanted them to do? I think the honest truth is that, in many ways, our politics is getting more and more devoid of principle, and that is a very sad thing for our democracy."

"At least when you vote for somebody, you should know what he stands for, what he believes, what she believes. But when you suddenly go to the opposite side, it becomes a different situation," Tharoor said.

Commenting on the conflict in West Asia involving the US and Iran, Tharoor said the escalating situation posed serious concerns for India.

He said India depended on the region for oil, gas, phosphates, fertilisers, aluminium and other key imports, while millions of Indians living and working in the Gulf including sailors, could be vulnerable if the conflict escalated.

Calling the situation "a shame", Tharoor said US President Donald Trump had not ruled out further military action.

"Trump is still not ruling it out. He is acting not just with words, but with bombs, missiles and attacks. He has talked about threatening even civilian and energy infrastructure next week."

Tharoor said that it is a very serious situation and all the chancelleries of the world are following this very closely.

"I hope our own country will try and play a role to diffuse the situation to the best way it can," he said.