No assembly going to polls met for more than 240 days in 5 yrs

Kerala Assembly, which will go to polls on April 13, met for 240 days during the last five years (approximately 1,825 days) with an average of 48 days per year, an RTI reply accessed by Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) said.

The sittings of Kerala Assembly are highest among all the assemblies going to polls, followed by West Bengal which met for 219 days (average of 44 days a year) and Tamil Nadu 214 days (an average of 43 days a year).

The data reveals that Puducherry Assembly's budget session during last three years lasted for just a day, ADR claimed. The Assembly during the last five years sat only for a total of 123 days, which is lowest among all the assemblies going for polls, it said.

"This compares very poorly with Lok Sabha which in itself sits for small number of days. The current Lok Sabha in last 1.5 years has sat for 135 days which averages to about 90 days in a year," Anil Bairwal of National Election Watch said.

The data which was accessed by National Election Watch and Association of Democratic Reforms though applications under Right to Information Act also showed that the longest session held was of 42 days of the West Bengal Assembly in 2010.

TN Assembly passed the largest number of bills (225) whereas the lowest numbers of bills were passed by Puducherry (42), the data showed.

"It also sat for 39 days in 2008 and 38 days in 2007. Right behind is Tamil Nadu which sat for 35 days for its fifth session. The shortest sessions were the Budget sessions of Puducherry which on three occasions lasted for only a day," Bairwal said