Playing or watching football and watching cinema figured top among the favourite pastimes and hobbies of the MLAs in the 14th Legislative Assembly.
Reading was almost a common inclusion among the hobbies of the sitting MLAs as per the feedback collected from the legislators by the research wing of the Kerala Assembly Secretariat. More than half of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLAs had mentioned reading as their hobby. A good number of legislators belonging to the Communist Party of India and the Indian National Congress had also selected reading as a key hobby.
Watching cinema is another favourite pastime — at least 25% of the sitting MLAs pointed out that they were regular movie buffs. Some interesting hobbies included performing magic, stamp collection, walking by the seaside and collection of remote-controlled toys. Only less than 10 members cited ‘agriculture/farming’ as their hobby or favourite pastime. Besides the actor-turned-MLAs, two members mentioned theatre and acting as their hobbies.
Football was the popular sport among the sitting MLAs, closely followed by badminton. Volleyball and cricket were the favourite sport of nearly 10 elected members.
Globetrotters
The data showed that nearly 35% of the sitting MLAs had travelled to more than three foreign countries. Members of the Indian Union Muslim League topped the chart, with majority of its MLAs stating that they had visited multiple countries.
More than 10 elected representatives of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Congress had also visited more than three foreign countries. The GCC nations, United States and the United Kingdom were the most sought after destinations. The MLAs belonging to the Left front had included China, Russia and Vietnam among the countries they had visited at least once.
