India’s green MPs—5 parliamentarians who fired the most environment questions in Lok Sabha

New Delhi: When the Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014, it wasted no time in renaming the Ministry of Environment and Forests to the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change. This rebranding sent a clear signal that the government was taking climate change seriously. Ten years on, as another Lok Sabha election draws near, the question arises: which Members of Parliament have mirrored this urgency in their work?

ThePrint analysed questions directed to the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and found that it fielded 4,575 questions from 2014 to 2024, spanning three Lok Sabhas—15th, 16th, and 17th. Among the MPs who asked the MOEFCC questions over these 10 years, some emerged as particularly persistent in platforming issues related to the environment at a national political level.

Here’s a look at the 5 top ‘green MPs’ of India—those who have consistently brought up environment and climate change-related issues in Parliament over the last decade of the BJP-led government.

1. Shrirang Chandu Barne 

Shrirang Chandu ‘Appa’ Barne, the Shiv Sena MP from Maval in Maharashtra, stands out as the parliamentarian who directed the most questions to the MOEFCC from 2014-2024.

In total, Barne asked 53 questions about important environmental issues, with fellow MPs Sudheer Gupta, Bidyut Baran Mahato, and Prataprao Ganpatrao Jadhav contributing to nearly 30 of these. In the 17th Lok Sabha, the topics they raised ranged from the climate vulnerability index of the Centre for Energy Environment and Water (CEEW) to the need for elephant corridors nationwide. Barne also questioned the shortage of officials to conduct environment clearance verification work at the MoEFCC.

Between 2014 and 2019, Barne also asked questions about the government’s actions against illegal wildlife trade and encroachments by mining companies in eco-sensitive areas, among other things.

Barne, who won the Sansad Maha Ratna Award in 2021 for his performance in Parliament, has asked 1,577 questions overall during Question Hour from 2014-2024.

2. PP Chaudhary

A two-term MP from Pali in Rajasthan, BJP’s PP Chaudhary is a close second to Barne in asking environment-related questions, racking up a tally of 47 over the last 10 years.

In his first term, Chaudhary’s questions to the MoEFCC mainly focused on wildlife initiatives such as Project Tiger and the funding for national parks and sanctuaries, along with a few queries on pollution, especially from the steel and coal industries. During this period, he also participated in debates about environmental clearances for mines in Rajasthan, as well as the need to environmentally restore abandoned coal mines.

In his second term, Chaudhary asked about the government’s plans to conserve the Great Indian Bustard, and about illegal mining in the forest areas of Rajasthan and Jharkhand.

Chaudhary has asked 915 questions in total from 2014-2024. He was awarded the Sansad Ratna award in 2015 for his performance in the Lok Sabha, including participating in 176 debates.

3. Kodikunnil Suresh

A former Union minister, Suresh is the chief whip of the Congress in the Lok Sabha. Representing Kerala’s Mavelikkara constituency, his 42 environment-related questions in the past decade have primarily pertained to his home state, including unauthorised soil extraction, rejuvenation of lakes, and toxic emissions from the Bramhapuram Waste Plant in Cochin.

During the 2014-19 term, he was also part of groups of MPs that got together to ask about global climate change reports, afforestation programmes, and India’s response to these developments.

Like other MPs in this list, Suresh has been an active participant in general during Parliament’s Question Hour, with a total of 864 questions over the last 10 years.

4. Feroze Varun Gandhi 

Out of 642 questions that he has asked over the past decade, BJP’s Feroze Varun Gandhi, directed 37 to the MoEFCC. The questions of the two-time MP from UP’s Pilibhit covered a broad range of environmental and climate change issues, from India’s role in sulphur dioxide pollution to the diversion of forest land under the Forest Conservation Act.

The son of former BJP MP and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi, his questions during the 2014-19 term focused on funds used by wildlife sanctuaries, the poaching of star tortoises and leopards, and the sale and export of exotic birds in the country, for which he sought a ban. The 43-year-old has also written columns in newspapers advocating for climate change mitigation and adaptation policies in Indian cities and agriculture.

5. Shobha Karandlaje 

The lone woman among the top 5 green MPs is the BJP’s Shobha Karandlaje, who represents Udupi Chikmagalur constituency in Karnataka and is currently serving as Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare. She has directed 34 inquiries to the MoEFCC since 2014, out of a total of 868 questions asked in general.

Having served as energy minister in the Karnataka state cabinet in 2010, Karandlaje has often posed questions concerning the power sector. Her questions have spanned the gamut from environment clearance for thermal power plants and violations of pollution norms by industries to preventing mining and energy projects within the eco-sensitive zone of the Western Ghats.

However, since Karandlaje was appointed as a minister in the Modi cabinet in 2021, her participation ceased since ministers don’t ask questions, sign the attendance register, or introduce private bills.

(Edited by Asavari Singh)