With 81.43%, Congress MLA Amin Patel tops MLA performance survey

Mumbai: A survey carried out by citybased NGO Praja Foundation has ranked MLA serving in the state legislature based on their performance in 2019- 21. With a score of 81.43%, Congress MLA  Amin Patel topped the chart, followed by Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Parag Alavani with a score of 79.96%. Results of the survey were released by the non-government organization on Tuesday.

The survey includes a report card of 31 Mumbai MLAs who participated in the monsoon and winter sessions of the state legislature between 2019 and 2021. It evaluates the MLAs on parameters like attendance, number of questions asked during sessions, quality of questions, usage of the areas developmental funds, educational qualifications, number of criminal cases against them, among other criteria. Congress MLA from Mumbadevi constituency in South Mumbai Amin Patel emerged on top scoring 81.43% by scoring high on attendance, number and quality of questions asked during sessions, as well as no criminal cases. Apart from Alavani- -the MLA from Vile Parle constituency— the BJP had other MLAs who made it in the top five of the survey. It included Ameet Satam, MLA from Andheri West Constituency (75.57%), and Atul Bhatkhalkar, MLA from Kandivali (73.61). Shiv Sena’s Sunil Prabhu, MLA from Dindoshi constituency and the chief whip of the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the party is the lone Sena MLA among the top five with a 77.19% score.

On the other hand, there were also MLAs who did not perform well in the survey and secured ranks in the bottom five. Shiv Sena’s Ravindra Waikar (28.52%), Prakash Surve (29.76%), were among the lowest ranked in the survey. Congress MLA Zeeshan Siddhique (32.54%), BJP’s Mangal Prabhat Lodha (31.49%) were also in the bottom five rankings. Interestingly, BJP’s Rahul Narwekar, the MLA from Colaba who has now been elected as the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, also figures in the bottom five with a 31% score. The survey also revealed that there has been a 27% increase in MLAs with criminal records. From a total of 15 MLAs in the 2014- 2019 period, the number had jumped to 19 MLAs between 2019 and 2021. Further, an 82% decline in questions asked on education during sessions, 61% decline in questions asked on health and a 73% decline in questions asked on housing were also reported in the survey.