Sachin as a celebrity MP

Sachin Tendulkar’s decision to accept nomination of Rajya Sabha has come in for heavy criticism from the public. Soon after the news was reported, the Twitter world went berserk, and hashtag #UnfollowSachin was trending Worldwide. Opinion polls such as those on The Times of India website indicate three - fourth's of the people disapprove of the development.  Media reactions were more restrained, trying to balance criticism with respect for Sachin the cricketer. Journalists writing in the print media used euphemistic tones, “cautioning” Sachin about the “challenges” that lay ahead. The electronic media did what it does best – organize debates without adding anything of value. Political reactions were of course, the worst, ranging from purely hypocritical to downright ridiculous. The Communist Party of India (CPI), for instance, demanded that Sourav Ganguly should also be nominated to the House, as if they are building a cricket team in Parliament.

But is the pessimism surrounding Sachin’s nomination justified?

Performance data of Members of Parliament (MPs) is now available online. The data assesses performance of all the MPs along parameters such as asking questions, participation in debates, including raising important issues, introduction of Private Member’s Bills and attendance in Parliament. I downloaded the data and looked for how celebrities have done. Data indicates that performance of celebrities in the current Lok Sabha is mixed, and generally ranges from poor to below average.

Performance of celebrities in the current Lok Sabha (till 31^st March 2012)

Name	Debate	Pvt. Member’s Bills	Questions	Attendance
Jaya Prada	19	0	366	32%
Kirti Azad	17	0	140	92%
Navjyot Sidhu	3	0	99	29%
Shatrughan Sinha	3	0	66	74%
Azharuddin	2	0	5	77%
Raj Babbar*	1	0	0	70%
National Average	23	0.4	177	78%

(*Term started on 10/11/2009, for all others 18/05/2009)

(Source: www.sansadratna.in)

Jaya Prada, for example has recorded only 32 percent attendance in Parliament, though has asked a lot of questions. Kirti Azad has been present in Parliament 92% of the time, but has scored slightly below the national average in participation in debates and asking questions. Sidhu has neither attended Parliament much nor taken part in debates, while Azharuddin and Raj Babbar have been little more than spectators.

Of course, the above metrics may not be perfect. For example, ‘attendance’ only means signing the Attendance Register for the day and does not mean the member was present for the whole day and listened with rapt attention to what was going on. There can also be other parameters on which an MP can be judged, but this is the best data that is currently available.

In another article, The Times of India has also drawn the similar conclusions about nominees to the Rajya Sabha, though it only quotes the attendance record in its support.

Attendance record of some celebrities in Rajya Sabha

Name	Sittings Attended	Total sittings	Percentage
Lata Mangeshkar	6	170	3.53%
Mrinal Sen	30	170	17.65%
Shabana Azmi	113	170	66.47%
Hema Malini	50	127	39.37%
Dara Singh	76	127	59.84%

(Source: The Times of India)

Personally, there would be nothing wrong if Sachin Tendulkar is entering politics. In fact, Sachin can do a lot of good for the country if he wants to, and only time will tell what he actually does. But his accepting the post even before retiring from active cricket has certainly not gone down well the people. It indicates he treats the post  merely as an ornamental one. The carefully orchestrated Bharat Ratna media campaign may also get punctured, as Sachin accepts a government largesse which is seen as significantly below his demi-God stature. And then, there is this whole issue of legality of his appointment.

This just isn't cricket, Sachin. Very disappointing.