Gangadhar S Patil
Few politicians often seen bawling in media, have for 135 times consistently maintained their silence in the place where they are expected to speak out – Lok Sabha.
Groomed as future prime minister by the Congress, Rahul Gandhi from Amethi, UP has the dubious distinction of being counted among the 22 leaders whose presence was barely felt in the Lok Sabha as they are yet to open their mouth in the 15th Lok Sabha.
Besides him, the list includes well-known ‘leaders’ like former Congress MP Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, Kadapa constituency, AP, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhar, Mahabubnagar, AP and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Shibu Soren representing Dumka constituency, Jharkhand who have preferred not to participate in for 135 parliament sittings. This implies that their participation in the parliament session is zero, while the average of the current Lok Sabha is 115 comments per member.
Bhajan Lal from Haryana Haryana Janhit Congress and Tollywood actress M Vijayashanthi, Medak constituency, AP are some other interesting names, who are yet to break their silence in 15th Lok Sabha sessions. Not only was she silent in the whole proceedings of the house, even her presence was hardly noticeable as she had the distinction of being present in only 10 per cent of the house proceedings while the tally was four per cent for K Chandrasekhar.
These leaders were numb to the national proceedings attended by 547 representatives from 28 states and seven union territories, according to the data compiled by PRS Legislative, a Delhi based independent research organisation. MPs of respective constituencies are expected to raise the concerns of people by participating in debates, private bills and raising questions.
Opportunity to talk on the floor not only depends on the political party’s decision but also on the luck of the MP, as the question to be raised on the floor for discussion is picked by lottery system. However experts say that it’s the initiative of the MPs in taking part which finally counts. “If an MP is not interested and absents himself from the sittings, he would not be given an opportunity to talk,” said M R Madhavan, head of research section, PRS Legislative.
Moreover, these days all the major political parties give equal opportunities to its members to speak and represent their constituencies, as could be seen with left party MPs who talk on rotation basis, he added.
The current 15th Lok Sabha commenced its sessions in June 2009 and till December 2010 it held six sessions (budget, monsoon and winter).
While 15th lok Sabha witnessed silence of many MPs, there were some who never missed an opportunity of raising their voice. Like - Ananda Rao Adsul of Shiva Sena, Maharashtra – 516 times, followed by Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, BJP MP from Maharashtra - 513, and Asaduddin Owaisis of AIMM, Andhra – 473.
The study also analyzed attendance of the MPs. In the 15th Lok Sabha, till the last session, only three members have secured 100% attendance, (Ministers and Leader of opposition are exempted from the attendance), noted the study.
The figures reflect how the members take interest in presenting the problems of their respective constituency country in the Lok Sabha.
Highest
| Name and Constituency | Attendance | Name and Constituency | Attendance |
| P J Thomas - Congress, Kerala Idukki | 100 % | Baliram Kashyap – BJP Chattisgarh, Bastar | 1 % |
| K P Dhanapalan - Congress, Kerala | 100 % | Chandrasekhar Rao – TRS Mahabubnagar, Andhra Pradesh | 4 % |
| Aruna Kumar Vundavalli - Congress, Andhra Pradesh - Rajahmundry | 100 % | Vijaya Shanthi – TRS, Medak, Andhra Pradesh | 10 % |
'Peace’ loving Tamil Nadu leaders
Gangadhar S Patil
Tamil Nadu’s voice was also feeble in the 15th Lok Sabha as the several MPs preferred to maintain silence despite state facing issues on several fronts like heavy rainfall, post-Sri Lankan conflict and others.
The MP whose presence was rarely felt was Thol Thirumavalan, the leader of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, one of the dalit parties, O. S. Manian of AIADMK representing, Danapal Venugopal of DMK and many others.
Thirumavalan spoke only for 16 times during the 135 sittings of the Lower House and his attendance was also the lowest in the state highlighting the lack of representation of people of Chidambaram. While O. S. Manian, representing Mayiladuthurai constituency, opened his mouth for 14 times, the tally for Venugopal from Tiruvannamalai was 15 times.
It is not only merely the call of the political party and speaker to allow MPs to speak on the floor, but also the interest shown by the MPs to take part in the proceedings. Ramasubbu talking to Express said that “though it is the decision of the party to allot time to its MP to speak on the floor, much depends on the initiative and interest shown by the MPs to participate in the proceedings.” Every MP gets equal opportunity to participate, he added.
There are several opportunities to represent, however members’ can use the opportunity if only they attend the proceedings regularly and show their interest in understanding issues and raising concerns of people of respective constituency, said Ramasubbu.
Contrary to the absent and silent leader, S S Ramasubbu of Congress representing Tirunelveli constituency spoke for 466 times to become the top performer from Tamil Nadu. He is followed by E.G. Sugavanam of DMK from Krisnagiri with 332 and P. Viswanathan, congress leader from Kancheepuram who spoke for 258 times.
Tamil Nadu MP’s performance:
| Name | Constituency | Party | Participation | Attendance |
| Thirumaa Valavan Thol | Chidambaram | Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi | 16 | 38% |
| O. S. Manian | Mayiladuthurai | All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 14 | 56% |
| Danapal Venugopal | Tiruvannamalai | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 15 | 70% |
| P. Venugopal | Tiruvallur | All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 16 | 80% |
| M. Krishnaswamy | Arani | Indian National Congress | 32 | 86% |
| T.K.S. Elangovan | Chennai North | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 36 | 99% |
| Sivakumar @ J.K. Ritheesh. K | Ramanthapuram | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 56 | 40% |
