MPs Must Present Report Cards, This Trio Is Doing Exactly That

According to reports, nine out of the 543 Lok Sabha members did not participate in any debate in the 17th Lok Sabha. Among these nine Members of Parliament, three are from Karnataka.

This includes Chamarajanagara MP V Srinivas Prasad, Vijayapura MP Ramesh Jigajinagi (a six-time MP) and Uttara Kannada MP Ananth Kumar Hegde. While the last of three was battling poor health for much of the last five years, it is unclear why the other two did not participate in Lok Sabha debates.

On the other hand, among the MPs who asked the most number of questions was Davanagere MP GM Siddeshwar with 277 questions. Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel and Bengaluru Rural MP D K Suresh asked 241 and 228 questions respectively.

Amongst MPs from Karnataka, three stand out — Tejasvi Surya, Prathap Simha and B Y Raghavendra, all relatively young in politics. They have been active both in Parliament and their respective constituencies over the last five years.

Surya has an attendance of 77 per cent, 6 per cent more than the state average. He has participated in 36 debates, almost double as compared to the state average.

Similarly, Simha has an attendance record of 86 per cent, higher than state and the national average for the same. He too, has asked more questions in Parliament (355), than the state average at 210.

While Raghavendra's numbers in attendance and debates are lesser than the national and state average, he has still managed to ask more questions than the average Lok Sabha MP in India or Karnataka.

Tejasvi Surya — Bengaluru South

On 14 February, this writer received an invite to attend the Bengaluru South Member of Parliament's reading of his report card for the work done between 2019 and 2024.

One slide after another, Surya showed a presentation on his achievements as an MP over the last five years.

Amongst other things, he explained how Jan Aushadi Kendras numbers crossed a hundred in his constituency, about how over a thousand students received the NaMo Vidyanidhi scholarships, a resting point for gig workers, how he convinced External Affairs Minister Dr Jaishankar to speak to his counterpart to open a US consulate in the city, and about a free dialysis centre for patients who could not afford it.

Present in the room were also a few reporters and editors who were critical of Surya's actions in the past.

Not everyone was sold on some of his answers, but the event did enable frank questions being asked to the Bengaluru South MP.

Pratap Simha — Mysore

While Surya presents report cards annually, and towards the end of his term, Simha has been actively engaging with the media.

Recently, in a Suvarna News debate with senior journalist Ajit Hanumakkanavar, Simha's response to a local Aam Aadmi Party member from Mysuru went viral.

From claiming credit for executing the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway in record time to implementing the Jal Jeevan Mission, introducing more trains from the city, upgrading infrastructure to much more, his answer was appreciated in the studio and following that, on social media.

B Y Raghavendra — Shivamogga

Shivamogga MP BY Raghavendra is amongst those MPs from Karnataka who have the most to show for their tenure between 2019-2024. An international airport in Shivamogga was inaugurated during his term, the number of trains arriving and departing from Shivamogga was increased (it was just 10 in 2009, now at 28), and a Passport Seva Kendra in the city was established.

Recently, his tenure as an MP got highlighted when a senior Congress leader from the region and Davanagere MLA, Shamanur Shivashankarappa, urged people to elect Raghavendra once again as the MP.