BJP MP and actor Ravi Kishan has been awarded the Sansad Ratna for his outstanding performance in the Lok Sabha, becoming the first actor-turned-politician to receive the honour.
Ravindra Kishan Shukla alias Ravi Kishan, the Lok Sabha member from Gorakhpur, is perhaps the first actor-politician to receive the Sansad Ratna award.
Kishan, 55, raised 123 questions, initiated 14 debates and brought in three private member bills, points out K Srinivasan of the Prime Point Foundation that instituted the Sansad Ratna award in 2010.
The performance of an MP is calculated based on the number of debates initiated, questions asked and the number of private member bills brought.
This verifiable data is sourced from the official records of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats, as well as PRS Legislative Research.
The Chennai-based Prime Point Foundation has been awarding the Sansad Ratna since 2010 following former President A P J Abdul Kalam's suggestion.
Seventeen MPs from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha along with two Parliamentary Standing Committees were nominated to receive the Sansad Ratna 2025, Srinivasan said.
The nominations were drawn up by a jury chaired by Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, chairman, National Commission for Backwards Classes and the the first-ever recipient of the award.
The awards will be presented in July.
As of 2024, 125 awards have been presented, recognising individual parliamentarians and Parliamentary Standing Committees.
This year, 17 individual awards will be conferred, including four special awards, recognising 'Outstanding and Consistent Contribution to Parliamentary Democracy'.
The special awards will be presented to:
Bhartruhari Mahtab (BJP, Odisha)
N K Premachandran (RSP, Kerala)
Supriya Sule (NCP-SP, Maharashtra)
Shrirang Appa Barne (Shiv Sena, Maharashtra)
These four members of Parliament were top performers during the 16th and 17th Lok Sabha and continue their performance in the 18th Lok Sabha.
Other Awardees from Maharashtra:
Smita Uday Wagh (BJP)
Arvind Ganpat Sawant (Shiv Sena UBT)
Naresh Ganpat Mhaske (Shiv Sena)
Varsha Eknath Gaikwad (Congress)
Dr Medha Vishram Kulkarni (BJP)
Awardees from other states:
Praveen Patel and Ravi Kishan (both BJP), from Uttar Pradesh.
Nishikant Dubey and Bidyut Baran Mahato (both BJP), from Jharkhand.
P P Chaudhary and Madan Rathore (both BJP), from Rajasthan.
C N Annadurai (DMK), from Tamil Nadu.
Dilip Saikia (BJP), from Assam.
MPs from Maharashtra won 7 awards; Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan won 2 awards each; Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam won an award each.
Two Standing Committees were chosen for their exceptional performance based on their reports presented to Parliament.
The Standing Committee on Finance, chaired by Bhartruhari Mahtab (BJP, Odisha)
The Standing Committee on Agriculture, chaired by Dr Charanjit Singh Channi (Congress, Punjab).
Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at venkatacharijagannathan@gmail.com
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff
© 2025