The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs seem to have taken the Parliament more seriously in the ongoing 17th Lok Sabha than the opposition, including Congress, which is duty-bound to question government policies and check legislation.

Out of the 26 MPs who recorded 100 per cent attendance in the Lok Sabha between June 2019 and September 2020, according to PRS Legislative Research data compiled by ThePrint, 21 belonged to the BJP, which has 303 MPs in the Lower House.

Among them are Basti MP Jagdambika Pal and Godda MP Nishikant Dubey, as well as 13 first-time MPs, who are mostly from Uttar Pradesh.

The Congress, which has 52 MPs in the House, has only two MPs with full attendance — Abdul Khaleque from Barpeta in Assam and K. Muraleedharan from Kerala.

The other MPs with 100 per cent attendance belong to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (two) and the Janata Dal-United (one).

While the party average was not immediately available for this period, the trend seems to be repeating the trend from the last Lok Sabha.

Between 2014 and 2019, BJP MPs’ attendance in the 16th Lok Sabha was 86 per cent on average. The Congress MPs recorded 75 per cent attendance. The Trinamool Congress (TMC), which saw attendance of only 65 per cent, was among the worst performers.

In the ongoing Lok Sabha, the party has continued its poor run, with Abhishek Banerjee, nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, showing only 14 per cent attendance — among the worst performers in the House.

Even ex-Congress chief and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi’s attendance was only 56 per cent — a slight improvement from 52 per cent in the last Lok Sabha.

Since it is not mandatory for the prime minister and the council of ministers to sign a register, their attendance could not be ascertained.