Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien has emerged as the lead questioner (unstarred questions) in the recently concluded first half of the Budget Session.

In the first half of the session, a total of 118 Rajya Sabha members raised 1,120 unstarred questions, seeking written replies from the government on several issues and implementation of various schemes and projects. They accounted for 52 per cent of the effective strength of the Upper House. The session concluded on February 11.

A total of 160 unstarred questions were replied to on each of the seven days when replies were laid out on the table of the House during the first part of the session and 35 members of the Rajya Sabha accounted for 50 per cent of the unstarred questions raised.

O’Brien asked 18 questions followed by Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy (YSRCP) with 17 and Parimal Nathwani (Independent) with 16 questions. Nearly 10 members, including K J Alphons (BJP) and Kumari Selja (Congress) raised 15 questions each.