Sonia, Rahul fare poorly as MPs, Advani shines, says survey

Despite leading the Congress from the front for the next Lok Sabha polls, party vice-president Rahul Gandhi may not have a very comfortable report card to show to the people on his performance as an MP from Amethi. A new survey tracking performances of 371 MPs found the achievement of the Congress second-in-command to be totally lackluster.

The survey that was carried out by ADR with support from Satark Nagrik Sangathan for India Today ranked the Amethi MP at 355 out of 371 making him the fifth worst Congress Lok Sabha MP in the last five years. His mother, Congress president and Rae Bareli MP Sonia Gandhi, ranked 223 out of 371, too had little to cheer about. Neither of them asked a single question in the last five years.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, in a traditional attire, at an election campaign rally at Kohima, Nagaland on Thursday. PTI

The attendance of both the leaders too has been abysmal with Rahul attending 43 percent of the sessions in the House while Sonia attended 48 percent.

Regarding funds spent, Rahul utilised 54 percent against Sonia's 66 percent of the MPLAD funds. Rahul's attendance in the Standing Committee was a meagre 13 percent.

BJP patriarch and Gandhinagar MP LK Advani scored a remarkable attendance with 98 percent. He also attended 50 percent of the Standing Committee meetings of which he has been a member. Although the BJP veteran did not ask a single question during the 15th Lok Sabha term, he scored seven out of 10 on the voter satisfaction score. His overall rank is 169.

In this report card, BJP president Rajnath Singh is ranked way below at 328. This ranking he secured despite raising 33 questions in Lok Sabha unlike the above-mentioned three. Singh's attendance in the House stood at 79 percent while the spending of his MPLAD fund was 63 percernt. The BJP chief attended 50 percent of his share of Standing Committee meetings.

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's attendance in the Lower House was a good 87 percent. Ranked at 272 out of 371, Yadav attended 36 percent of the Standing Committee sittings. Out of the Rs 19 crore MPLAD funds, the Samajwadi Party chief spend Rs 14.46 crore. Janata Dal United chief Sharad Yadav, who represents Madhepura constituency in Bihar, was ranked 252 out of 371 surveyed.

The survey did not cover the Union ministers.

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