Ex-MP Rahul Gandhi's Parliament record: It is not a happy read

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday cited Rahul Gandhi's Parliament track record and branded him as the epitome of unparliamentary behaviour.

Briefing media persons, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said: "Rahul Gandhi has been a member of the Lok Sabha for so long, from 2009 to 2014... He has never been able to ask questions for Amethi in the last five years. He has participated in only 21 debates in all these years. This in itself speaks a lot."

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"In 13 years, Rahul participated in only 21 discussions and didn't introduce any single Private Member Bill. He is the epitome of unparliamentary behaviour," he further said.

Asianet Newsable dug deeper into the claims made by the BJP about Rahul Gandhi's Parliament track record. Anurag Thakur's claim that not a single Private Member Bill was introduced by the Congress MP in the current term is true, as per data from the non-profit organisation PRS Legislative Research. 

The data also suggests that the four-time MP's Parliament attendance is at 52 per cent when compared to the national average of 79 per cent. A further breakdown of his Parliament attendance in the current term reveals that his attendance in the ongoing Budget session has been a mere 38 per cent. The percentage dwindles down to zero during the Winter Session of 2022 and the Monsoon Session of 2020.

Between July 2019 and February 2023, the Wayanad MP took part in six debates. This is extremely poor, considering that the national average for participation in debates stands at 41.2.

The grim statistic continues when one examines the number of questions asked by Rahul Gandhi in Parliament in this term. Cumulatively, the now-former MP asked 93 questions when the national average stood at 169.

To note, following his disqualification, Rahul would not be able to contest elections for eight years unless a higher court stays his conviction and two-year sentence in a defamation case, filed on a complaint by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi for his remark, "How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?"

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• Rahul Gandhi
• Parliament