16th Lok Sabha: From Babul Supriyo to Kamal Nath, here is a list of MPs with lowest participation in debates

Congress MP from Madhya Pradesh and the newly elected Chief Minister of the state Kamal Nath did not participate in any debate either, in the five years of the 16th Lok Sabha, PRS legislative research stated.

BJP MP Babul Supriyo and Congress MP Kamal Nath had zero participation in the debates in 16th Lok Sabha/ Images: PTI

New Delhi: The 16th Lok Sabha concluded with the final speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, after witnessing a passage of 180 bills and promulgation of 45 ordinances over the five years. The 16th Lok Sabha worked for a total of 1,615 hours, 20 per cent more than the 15th Lok Sabha when the UPA was in power. However, this was 40 per cent lower than the average of all full term Lok Sabhas, which is 2,689 hours. While this term of the Lok Sabha witnessed a quite a ruffle over a number of subjects, there were many such members who did not participate in a single debate. Altogether there were 34 MPs who participated in zero debates, 16 were from BJP, 6 from Trinamool, 3 from TDP, 2 from Congress, NCP and RJD each, while BJD, JMM and YSR Congress had one such member, stated as per PRS legislative research. The prominent names with zero participation in debates, as cited by the PRS, include several BJP MPs as well- West Bengal MP Babul Supriyo, Bihar MPs Giriraj Singh and Shatrughan Sinha, UP MP Murli manohar Joshi and Assam’s Sarbananda Sonowal. Congress MP from Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh and the newly elected Chief Minister of the state Kamal Nath did not participate in any debate either, in the five years of the 16th Lok Sabha. Prominent RJD leader Tasleem Uddin, and JMM leader Shibu Soren too were inactive in the debates, PRS said. The 16th Lok Sabha spent 13 per cent of its time on question hour, 10 per cent on short duration discussions, and 0.7 per cent on calling attention motions. In the 16th Lok Sabha, a no-confidence motion was moved against the government and discussed in the Monsoon Session of 2018. This was the 27th time a no-confidence motion was discussed since the first Lok Sabha. It was discussed for 11 hours 46 minutes and was defeated. According to the government, 180 bills were passed in the past five years. The data said, 32 per cent of the bills were discussed for more than three hours in Lok Sabha. This is higher than the previous two Lok Sabhas (22 per cent and 14 per cent in the 15th and 14th Lok Sabha respectively). Bills passed within 30 minutes have decreased significantly from 26 per cent in the 15th Lok Sabha to 6 per cent in the 16th Lok Sabha.