Nine YSRCP MPs haven’t asked any questions in the 17th Lok Sabha

Hyderabad: When it comes to questions asked in parliament, nine YSRCP party members of Andhra Pradesh have scored a straight zero in the 17th Lok Sabha. According to PRS Legislative, an independent body that records Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha proceedings, as of October 20, 2019, these nine MPs out of 22 YSRCP representatives haven’t asked any questions. The 17th Lok Sabha session began on May 23, 2019.

The nine members are namely Chinta Anuradha from Amalapuram, Bellana Chandra Shekar from Vizianagaram, Beeseti Venkata Satyavathi from Anakapalli, Goddeti Madhavi from Araku, Kuruva Gorantla Madhav from Hindpur, Pocha Brahmananda Reddy from Nandyal, N Reddeppa from Chittoor, Sridhar Kotagari from Eluru, and Suresh Nandigam from Bapatla.

Interestingly, most of these MPs have an average attendance of 80%, and Beeseti Venkata Satyavathi has 100% attendance. The only person with zero questions and least presence of 49% is Suresh Nandigam.

All three members of Telugu Desam Party TDP asked questions in the 17th Lok Sabha. Jayadev Galla, a highly educated and the wealthiest TDP candidate from Guntur constituency, has asked the maximum number of questions — 49. From YSRCP party, the maximum number of questions was asked by Balashowry Vallabbhaneni — 42 questions.

Why is asking questions in parliament important?

The question hour is a separate session in the parliament for asking questions. Asking questions is a parliamentary right for everyone present in the parliament. The minister, to whom the question is posed, has to stand up, address the parliament, and answer the question. Asking questions enables parliamentarians to know how different government policies are performing, and it makes ministers answerable to the people. Questions let parliamentarians seek information, and the same information is transferred to the people.