MPs’ scorecard: 10 above average
Irrespective of their parties, all MPs from Telangana fought for the cause of the separate state and Seemandhra MPs lobbied to keep the state united. But voters definitely weren’t impressed by their performance as far as governance goes, according to a new survey conducted by the Association for Democratic Reforms and Daksh Society.
None of the MPs’ performance was rated as satisfactory and only about 10 MPs were voted to have done “above average” and only one among them was a Cabinet minister.
Shockingly, a majority of respondents said they would still back candidates with criminal records because of their caste, religion and power.
Union minister Killi Kruparani fared the worst among all the ministers with a below average performance. The TD MP from Khammam, Mr Nama Nageswara Rao, scored the highest points and was the best MP, according to the survey.
Out of 42 MPs in the state, the performance of just 10 MPs was above average. In the Telangana region, out of 17 MPs, six MPs got the thumbs up while in Seemandhra region, the number is only four out of 25. Interestingly, the performance of all the Union ministers from the state, except Kavuri Samba Siva Rao, was rated as below average. In the Telangana region, 11 MPs and in Seemandhra, 21 MPs got a below average rating. Almost 60 per cent of respondents in the sur- vey said they would vote for a candidate with a criminal case pending, just because of his caste and power.
Contrary to popular belief that voters can be lured by freebies, respondents said caste is a more important factor than such sops.
Union minister S. Jaipal Reddy scored an average 6.64 points on a scale of 10. Kadapa MP and YSRC chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had a below average score of 5.87 though expectations from him were higher.
Union minister Kavuri Samba Siva Rao scored 6.70.
The scores of other ministers are Sarve Satyanarayana 5.73, Panabaka Laxmi, 6.66, Daggubati Purandeswari, 6.47, Kishore Chandra Dev, 6.33, M.M. Pallam Raju, 6.10, Kotla Surya Prakash Reddy, 5.92, and P. Balaram Naik, 5.91.