Shatrughan Sinha, a former actor whose exit from Bollywood has done little to tone down his dramatic flair, is set to quit the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) and join Congress, after the party denied election ticket to the sitting Patna Sahib MP.
On several occasions the disgruntled actor-politician, who’s in the habit of self-aggrandizing, had asserted that the BJP should give him a role ‘befitting his stature’.
The voluble politician has been highly critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his tweets over the last months have been increasingly provocative, as he resented being denied a ministerial berth in the Union cabinet and claimed that ‘his capabilities have not been recognised by the party’.
In past five years, however, his own performance has been incredibly shameful and dismal as a parliamentarian, as per the data prepared by PRS Legislative Research. In past five years, Shatrughan asked zero questions, participated in zero debates and initiated zero bills in Lok Sabha.
Not every MP becomes a minister but MPs have responsibilities to three main groups: their constituents, Parliament and their political party. Records of the Lok Sabha show that between 2014 and 2019 Shatrughan Sinha as the sitting MP of Patna Sahib performed poorly on nearly all parameters.
Shatrughan did not participate in any debate and scored zero on this.
MPs’ duties in Parliament include participating in debates and voting on legislation and other matters. Record shows that Shatrughan Sinha remained completely ‘khamosh’ (silent) and did not participate in any debate.
Shatrughan did not ask a single question and scored zero.
MPs are also meant to help their constituents by advising on problems (particularly those that arise from the work of government departments), representing the concerns of their constituents in Parliament and acting as a figurehead for the local area. Shatru failed on this yardstick too as he did not ask a single question in the Parliament let alone raise issues of the constituency he represented.
Shatrughan did not introduce any private member’s bill.
His score for introducing a private member’s bill was also zero.
Shatrughan also fared poorly on attendance.
Besides his performance on these fronts, Shatrughan also fared poorly on attendance. He was present on only 67 per cent of the days the Lok Sabha was in session. The average attendance of all MPs in this period was 81 per cent.
