Congress MLA tops performance chart; BJP fares better on graft

All five Congress MLAs from Mumbai elected in the last Assembly polls have found place in the top 10 legislators who were ranked on the basis of their performance on various parameters by an NGO.
The ranking of MLAs from Mumbai, topped by a Congress legislator, has been prepared by the NGO Praja. The metropolis has 36 Assembly seats, of which Congress won five in 2014.
In a significant finding, the NGO said people see the current BJP-led Government as less corrupt than administrations in the past.
The report card reflects the MLAs' performance on the basis of their attendance, questions asked in Assembly, using area development funds, people's perception about their image in terms of corruption, accessibility and criminal record, among other parameters, said the NGO, which conducts data driven research on elected representatives.

Of the 36 Mumbai MLAs, Praja evaluated 31 of them and the Congress' Amin Patel came at the top. Sunil Prabhu (Shiv Sena) and Varsha Gaikwad occupied the second and third spots, respectively. Only two BJP MLAs featured in the top 10.
Releasing the report, the fifth in series, Nitai Mehta, Managing Trustee of Praja Foundation, which runs the NGO, today said, "On the basis of our report card, Congress MLAs are the best performers, while the performance of BJP MLAs has been very disheartening."

"But we would like to add there is a perception that corruption has gone down during this government," he said.

"In 2014, 57 per cent of citizens felt the government and MLAs were 'extremely corrupt', whereas in 2016, 36 per cent of citizens felt the Government and MLAs were 'extremely corrupt'," said Milind Mhaske, Project Director of Praja.
However, as compared to the last evaluation, the accessibility of MLAs has gone down, which is not a good sign, Mhaske said.
Five MLAs - Trupti Sawant, who was elected in a recent bypoll, and four who are Ministers, were excluded from the assessment exercise.
Reacting to the findings, Amin Patel said, "I have been working hard in my constituency with the support of party workers and it is heartening it has been truly reflected in the report."

Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam said he was proud of the performance of his party MLAs.
Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar said, "In such cases, MLAs from Opposition always get an edge. But please do not forget the report also says people think corruption has gone down, which is a moral victory for our MLAs and the Government.