It’s two-much for Rana in Lok Sabha

AHMEDABAD: What is the height of inactivity? Rajendrasinh Rana representing Bhavnagar in the Lok Sabha for the third time in a row.
Rana, who served as a member on several committees, has asked just two questions and participated in an equal number of discussions.
Looks like Rana, popular as Raju Rana, got his maths wrong when he thought two plus two would be enough to show concern for his constituency.
The first of the two questions that he asked was — If the Indian Airlines was planning to reschedule the timing of the Mumbai-Bhavnagar-Mumbai flight, paarticularly in the morning. The minister of civil aviation had said that due to low seat factor and lean season, the flight operating on this sector has been restructured to operate as Mumbai-Bhavnagar-Jamnagar-Mumbai four times a week with B-737 aircraft between July 1 and September 30.
This second query — Whether the government planned to provide night landing facility at Bhavnagar airport. The minister had replied that the Airports Authority of India had provided runway lights and approach lights for covering night operations at the airport. However, with no demand for night operations through this airport, the fittings had been removed and kept in safe custody to avoid pilferage.
Rana, who was a member of the committee on defence and the committee on Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme, saw little beyond the airport in his constituency.
Being a member on the MPLADS committee didn’t exactly encourage Rana to raise questions regarding his constituency. It is assumed that Rana would have been aware of the various problems faced by people since he was on the MPLADS committee.
The BJP Gujarat unit president may have worked at the grassroots level and talked about issues directly to the voter during the 1999 Lok Sabha and the state elections of 2003. But being able to raise just two questions regarding Bhavnagar (and Gujarat) may not go down well with his electorate.
The BJP MP who has special interests in literature and sports could raise not even a single question in these areas, realting them to Bhavnagar. Infrastructure? Transportation? Water supply? Security? Communications? Education? Nothing seemed to make it to Rana’s list of questions to ask when the House was in session.
Regarding discussions in Parliament, Rana did not score much on the ‘concern level’ either. However, two issues, but very close to Gujarat’s heart — drought and earthquake —saw active particicipation from Rana.
The first discussion was regarding the drought situation prevailing in various parts of the country, a burning issue in Gujarat and for its farmers.
The second discussion was specifically regarding the situation caused by the earthquake in the state. The issue had been raised by Ahmedabad MP Harin Pathak earlier.
Rana was also a member of the consultative committee in the Ministry of Defence. Apart from his political work, Rana was a visiting fellow at the Bhavnagar University and has translated ‘Stairways to Excellence’ by G Narayana as ‘Shreshthata Na Sopan’ in Gujarati.