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In a month from now, the newly inaugurated Parliament will witness its first session. Ahead of both the Houses assembling for that, we looked at the performance of the incumbent Members of Parliament.
As of June 1, 2023, a total of 238 Rajya Sabha MPs and 539 Lok Sabha MPs hold office. Each of them can ask a maximum of 10 questions each day during the question hour. Data from PRS legislative research show that every Lok Sabha MP has asked 158 questions on an average, in the current tenure, while among the Rajya Sabha MPs in office, each has asked an average of 196 questions.
The data also show that seven Rajya Sabha MPs and six Lok Sabha MPs haven’t participated in any debate, neither have they introduced a Bill nor asked a question throughout their terms. The Rajya Sabha MPs include big names like musician Ilaiyaraaja, filmmaker V Vijayendra Prasad, former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren. The Lok Sabha MPs in this category include former ministers Harsh Vardhan, Sanjay Dhotre and Sadananda Gowda, and actor-turned-politician Shatrughnan Sinha.
The list of Rajya Sabha MPs who haven’t asked a question during their current term also includes former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. However, he has participated in debates.
Fared well
In terms of asking questions, Sukanta Majumdar of BJP asked the most at 560, followed by Supriya Sule (NCP) and Bidyut Baran Mahato (BJP), who asked 546 questions each.
In the Upper House, YSR Congress Party’s Parimal Nathwani asked as many as 1,718 questions, followed by Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut and BJP’s CM Ramesh, with 1,705 and 1,314 questions each. YSRCP’s V Vijayasai Reddy and Mansukh L Mandaviya, Minister for Health and Family Welfare, introduced the most private member Bills — 27 and 14, respectively.
In Lok Sabha, BJP’s Gopal Chinayya Shetty and Nishikant Dubey introduced 17 and 16 Bills, respectively.
When it comes to participation in debates, Biju Janata Dal’s Amar Patnaik and Sasmit Patra took part in 1,182 and 1,014 debates, respectively, in Rajya Sabha. In the Lower House, BJP’s Pushpendra Singh Chandel participated in 1,136 debates, while Indian National Congress’ Kuldeep Rai Sharma took part in 818. On an average, a Lok Sabha MP has participated in 40 debates, while a Rajya Sabha MP has participated in 79.
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