BJP’s Yogesh Sagar ‘best’ MLA from Mumbai for 2nd year in a row

MLAs were rated on parameters like attendance in Assembly sessions,number and quality of questions,educational qualifications,criminal cases registered against them,their perceived accessibility,performance,level of corruption etc. The survey had a random sample of 22,053 people.

The information was sourced through RTIs filed with the Vidhan Bhavan,collectors’ offices,Election Commission of India and Mumbai police. Ministers were excluded from this exercise since they do not ask questions in the sessions.

Praja founder Nitai Mehta said that while 19 MLAs improved their ranking,13 of them slipped. Asked about the method of marking under the “quality of questions” category,Mehta said,“We have devised a point system in which questions pertaining to state subjects bag the highest points,those pertaining to city’s infrastructure also bag high points while irrelevant questions or those relating to Centre’s subjects are marked the lowest.”

The average rank of the five BJP MLAs is 14. The average rank of Congress’s 14 MLAs is 15,MNS’s six MLAs 21,NCP’s two MLAs 24,Samajwadi Party’s one MLA 29 and Shiv Sena’s four MLAs 14.

While the perceived accessibility of all 32 MLAs was the highest just after Assembly elections in 2009 and early 2010,it dipped to only 14 MLAs in the latest report. For three years in a row,26 MLAs have been perceived as being extremely corrupt by the survey.