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Celebrity MPs get a ‘thumbs down’

Sujay Mehdudia

Their performance in Parliament ‘abysmally poor,’ according to citizens’ group report

Political parties are again roping in celebrities from business, sports, and film to contest the elections. But their performance as parliamentarians has been disappointing: in fact, their track record has been “abysmally poor” as far as contribution to parliamentary democracy is concerned, according to a citizens’ group.

Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, film stars Vinod Khanna, Govinda, Hema Malini and Dharmendra, Jaya Bachchan and Jaya Prada, wrestler Dara Singh, industrialists Vijay Mallya and Rahul Bajaj, director Shyam Benegal and economist Bimal Jalan — all have done exceptionally poorly in Parliament, according to a report by National Social Watch Coalition, a group of civil society organisations and prominent citizens.

Lack of interest

‘The Citizens’ Report on Governance and Development 2008-09’ highlights the lack of interest in Parliamentary proceedings of these celebrity members. None of them turned up for more than 20 per cent of its 34 sittings in 2007.

The sittings were held over 64 days in two sessions. Interestingly, of the 80,000-odd questions asked in both the Houses, their contribution is not even one per cent. As many as 55,145 questions were asked in the Lok Sabha and 22,794 in the Rajya Sabha.

Bollywood star and Mumbai-North MP Govinda did not attend the Lok Sabha at all during this period. Dharmendra did not ask a single question or participate in any debate and his attendance was a dismal 1.5 per cent.

His wife, actor-dancer Hema Malini, a nominated Rajya Sabha member from the BJP, fared better with 10 per cent attendance. She asked 179 questions and participated in the upper house debates 15 times.

The former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor, Bimal Jalan, a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha, asked just one question; his attendance was 20 per cent, which incidentally was the highest among the celebrities.

Parliamentary debates

He, however, participated in parliamentary debates 10 times. Similarly, eminent filmmaker Shyam Benegal, another nominated Rajya Sabha member, whose films deal with contemporary social issues, had no questions to ask and spoke only twice during the debates.

Liquor baron Vijay Mallya asked 126 questions in the Rajya Sabha; his attendance was a poor seven per cent.

Actor-wrestler-turned-politician Dara Singh’s contribution to the upper house performance — 131 questions, zero participation in debates and 14 per cent attendance.

Mr. Sidhu was uncharacteristically quiet during Lok Sabha debates. His attendance was a dismal six per cent.

BJP’s Lok Sabha MP from Punjab Vinod Khanna, a veteran actor, asked just four questions and spoke only twice during discussions; his attendance was 5.5 per cent. Samajwadi Party’s MP, Jaya Prada, and the party’s Rajya Sabha member, Jaya Bachchan, both actors, fared the best among the lot.

Jaya Prada asked 178 questions and Jaya Bachchan 159, the latter being more active in the debates.

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