BJP members Mohan Mandavi and Bhagirath Choudhary have earned the unique distinction of not missing a single sitting of the 17th Lok Sabha, which held a total of 274 sittings during its term. Coincidentally, the two first-term members got seats adjacent to each other in the House.
“I do the job assigned to me with utmost responsibility. I represent Kanker, a tribal region of Chhattisgarh, and had attended the House even during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mandavi said.
According to data shared by PRS Legislative Research, Choudhary (MP from Ajmer in Rajasthan) and Mandavi clocked a 100 per cent attendance during the 17th Lok Sabha, which on an average witnessed 79 per cent attendance during its tenure.
Mandavi said he and Choudhary had seats next to each other in Lok Sabha. BJP member from Hamirpur in Uttar Pradesh Pushpendra Singh Chandel was the most active member in Parliament having participated in 1,194 debates in the 17th Lok Sabha, followed by Kuldeep Rai Sharma (833 debates) from Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The PRS Legislative considers a member taking part in discussion on bills, raising issues during Zero Hour, special mentions and association with issues raised by other members under the category of ‘participation in debates’.
BSP member Malook Nagar (Bijnor) participated in 582 debates followed by DMK member D NV Senthilkumar from Dharmapuri (307 debates), RSP member N K Premachandran from Kollam (265), NCP-SCP member from Baramati Supriya Sule (248).
Actor-politicians Sunny Deol (BJP) and Shatrughan Sinha (TMC) were among nine Lok Sabha members who did not participate in any debate. BJP members Ramesh Jigajinagi, B N Bachegowda, Pradhan Baruah, Anant Kumar Hegde and V Sreenivasa Prasad, TMC member Dibyendu Adhikari and BSP member Atul Kumar Singh were the other members who did not participate in debates and discussions in the 17th Lok Sabha.
