Guwahati, 13th February: Assam’s Pradan Baruah, representing Lakhimpur for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has emerged as one of the nine silent lawmakers in the Lok Sabha. Despite maintaining an active presence with an 85 percent attendance rate, Baruah refrained from participating in debates, choosing silence instead.
Baruah’s presence in the Lok Sabha was marked by a lack of verbal contribution, submitting only 15 written questions during his tenure. This absence of vocal engagement raises questions about the nature of parliamentary representation and engagement, especially considering his above-average attendance rate compared to other MPs.
The list of silent MPs extends to notable figures like TMC’s Dibyendu Adhikari and BJP’s Sunny Deol, the renowned Bollywood actor-turned-politician from Gurdaspur. Despite his iconic on-screen dialogue, “ta-reekh pe tareekh,” resonating with cinema lovers, Deol’s silence in the Lok Sabha remained conspicuous. Similarly, Shatrughan Sinha, the TMC MP elected in a by-election in April 2022, remained reticent throughout his tenure.
Among the silent cadre were MPs like Ramesh Chandrappa Jigajinagi of the BJP, whose extended absence due to ill health kept him away from parliamentary discourse, and Atul Rai of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), who remained incarcerated until August last year. This diversity within the silent lawmakers highlights various reasons for parliamentary silence, ranging from personal health issues to legal constraints.
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