New Delhi: Cricket legend and nominated member of the Rajya Sabha Sachin Tendulkar has hit the headlines for not spending even a single paisa from his MPLAD fund. Rs 10 crore is still lying in his account, waiting for his nod to spend the money on various minor development works in his adopted district of Mumbai Suburb.
When compared to Sachin Tendulkar's 'Zero' score, three other MPs from the same Cricketing fraternity have a better record. Even though the 'motor mouth' two time BJP MP from Amritsar Navjot Singh Sidhu's performance is the worst among all Lok Sabha MPs from Punjab, he has a strike rate of 72.67 per cent. According to MPLAD records, he has an entitlement amount of Rs 19 crore in his MPLAD account. The Government of India has released Rs 16.50 crore and with interest, it is now Rs 16.97 crore. He has spent Rs 11.99 crore on various development works in his seat. He has an unspent amount of Rs 4.98 crore in his account.
Former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin who is a Congress MP from Moradabad in UP has lived up to his image as a big hitter. His percentage of utilization is 77.43 per cent. He also has an entitlement amount of Rs. 19 crore in his MPLAD account. Amount available in his account with interest is Rs 19.48 crore. He has already spent Rs 14.76 crore on various development works in his constituency. He still has an unspent amount of Rs 4.72 crore. He can spend that amount before the Lok Sabha election schedule is out. Azharuddin who has already expressed his desire to contest from a seat in West Bengal also has a good website http://azhar.co/mp_lads.html. It has all details of his achievements and activities in Moradabad. Azharuddin has, however, claimed that he has spent all the money. even as the website says some money is still not spent. "Have seen news report of unused MPLADS which is untrue. I have used all my funds and started several development projects," he said adding that he will get changes made on the website.
When compared to these two, the third one Kirti Azad has a not so impressive record. The two time Lok Sabha member from Darbhanga in Bihar, Kirti Azad has a strike rate of just 39.58 per cent. According to MPLAD records his percentage of utilization is a mere 37.58 per cent. For the record, his batting average is worse than this!
Out of Rs.19 crore entitlement amount, he has actually spent just Rs 4.74 crore on various development works in Darbhanga. He still has an unspent amount of Rs 7.43 crore in his account. Azad also has a website of his own. It is not a detailed one like Azharuddin's website.
What explains the better performance of these three Cricketers turned MPs is - they are all Lok Sabha members, directly elected by the people. They need to be in touch with the common people to retain their seat and need to spend money on development work.
But, Sachin Tendulkar has no such obligations. He does not belong to any political party. He does not a have constituency or voters. He is a nominated MP with a fixed tenure of 6 years. All three Azharuddin, Azad and Sidhu are contesting in the Lok Sabha elections again. If Azhar goes to some other constituency, his good performance in Moradabad will not be of any use in the elections for him.
Their off field performance has outshone Sachin's off field performance of 'zero' score as an MP.
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