BJP MLAs in Delhi assembly top in asking questions, attendance: report

According to the report by Praja Foundation, BJP MLAs Ajay Kumar Mahawar, Mohan Singh Bisht and Om Prakash Sharma have topped the list.

New Delhi: A report by a non-profit organisation has claimed that BJP MLAs in the Delhi assembly have topped in terms of asking questions and attendance in the legislative assembly. The report released by Praja Foundation on Tuesday said that BJP MLAs have topped the assembly in terms of both asking questions and attendance.

On the other hand, the ruling AAP MLAs have proved to be lax both in terms of attendance in the assembly and asking questions, the report said. According to Praja Foundation's 2023 report card, the top three spots in terms of attendance and asking questions are occupied by BJP MLAs Ajay Kumar Mahawar, Mohan Singh Bisht and Om Prakash Sharma.

Assessment of performance of MLAs: In the report, the working of 61 of the 70 MLAs for the period from 23 March 2022 to 19 January 2023 has been assessed by the Praja Foundation. The remaining nine MLAs, including six Delhi Ministers, Chief Minister, Assembly Speaker and Deputy Speaker, have not been evaluated in this report card, as they do not raise any issue in the House, the report said.

According to the report, there are 4 MLAs, who, after being elected to the assembly MLAs on 24 February 2020, never asked any question in the assembly till 19 January 2023. At the same time, there are 10 MLAs who have not asked any question with regard to the issues in their respective constituency in the last one year.

Praja Foundation CEO Milind Mhaske said that the attendance of Delhi MLAs in the Assembly session has been declining continuously since 2015. In 2015, the attendance of MLAs was 90 percent, which fell to 83 percent in 2022. The annual average attendance of MLAs in the last eight years has been 85 percent.

Yogesh Mishra, head of research and analysis at the foundation, said the reduced number of assembly meetings has resulted in fewer opportunities for legislators to participate and deliberate on citizens' issues. On an average, Delhi legislators have raised only 966 issues per year from 2015 to 2022, he said.