The attendance record of cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and actor Rekha might have raised questions about the role and relevance of celebrity MPs in the Rajya Sabha, but many of their elected counterparts do no better.
At least 33 MPs across both Houses of Parliament currently have less than 50 per cent attendance. That is, they are absent more often than they are present. Only three of those 33 are nominated members, an analysis of the parliamentary attendance records, compiled by PRS Legislative Research, shows.
Actors Hema Malini and Tapas Pal, who are both elected members of the Lok Sabha, have not attended even a single day of the ongoing budget session. Others with a poor attendance record include Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s wife, Dimple Yadav, deputy leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Captain Amarinder Singh and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s son Dushyant Singh.
In the Rajya Sabha, absenteeism is a trait seen even among seasoned politicians such as Amar Singh (40%) and Abhishek Manu Singhvi (47%).
Thus, repeated absence from parliamentary proceedings doesn’t seem to be the sole prerogative of nominated members. If there is one indicator for the likelihood of poor attendance, it is not celebrity but past performance.
For example, in the recently concluded 15th Lok Sabha (2009-2014), the TMC’s Suvendu Adhikari, JMM’s Shibu Soren, Samajwadi Party’s Dimple Yadav and the BJP’s MP from Porbandar Vitthalbhai Hansrajbhai Radadiya were all absent for more than two-third of the sessions. Their poor attendance record continues in the 16th Lok Sabha.
