Mumbai: The number of questions raised by Mumbai’s MLAs in the state legislative assembly has fallen by 72% over 15 years, with the city’s legislators asking 2,213 questions between the winter (2024) and monsoon (2025) sessions of the 15 th assembly compared with 7,955 during the corresponding period for the 12th assembly (winter session of 2009 to monsoon session of 2010), according to Praja Foundation’s Mumbai MLAs’ Report Card 2026, released on Tuesday.
Praja assessed the performance of 33 of the city’s 36 MLAs during the 15th assembly.
The overall rank was determined after applying prescribed weightages to each parameter, Praja said. Milind Mhaske, CEO of Praja Foundation, said, “The three not included were MLA Rahul Narwekar, who is the assembly Speaker, and cabinet ministers M P Lodha and Ashish Shelar. Mhaske said, “An MLA’s performance is ultimately about one fundamental question: are citizens’ concerns reaching the floor of the House? He said the consolidated performance of Mumbai’s MLAs presented a concerning picture, with the average score failing to show a positive trend over successive assemblies. When the House meets, the quality of that time matters,” he said, highlighting the sharp fall in the number of questions asked.
MLAs of the Congress occupied the top three positions in Praja’s report card: Amin Patel representing Mumbadevi constituency was ranked first, followed by Aslam Shaikh from Malad and Jyoti Gaikwad from Dharavi. The Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Sunil Prabhu (Dindoshi) and Manoj Jamsutkar (Byculla) came in fourth and fifth. The rankings were based on scores across four parameters: attendance, number of questions asked, quality of questions, and criminal record, with negative marking for criminal cases. Our findings show that while some MLAs are making strong use of the assembly as a forum for representation and deliberation, there are also significant gaps in legislative performance. “The assembly is where issues affecting millions of citizens should be raised, questioned and debated.
Political analyst Surendra Jondhale said, “The decline in the number of questions reflects a decline in democratic debate on the floor of the assembly. Instead of substantive discussions, there is more shouting and disruption, leaving little room for meaningful debate. ” On the changing profile of legislators, Jondhale said, “The new recruits in political parties often lack strong political associations or grassroots-level political networks. There is increasing chaos, adjournments and a reluctance to ask questions. There is political apathy, with even the opposition not raising enough questions, while the governing party often tries to put pressure on it. Elections have become increasingly expensive, and unless young candidates have strong financial backing, they find it difficult to contest elections and sustain themselves in politics. This is one of the reasons the average age of legislators continues to remain high. ”