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Industrialists steer clear as farmers dominate Lok Sabha

Fewer industrialists and more agriculturists are being drawn towards the Lok Sabha with the farmers having emerged as the consistent mainstay of successive Houses over the years.

With a record number of 210 agriculturists in the dissolved 11th Lok Sabha, they stood as the single largest group of professionals.

Their percentage representation of 38.74 per cent had moved up dramatically from 29.57 per cent in the 10th Lok Sabha, but slid from the 40.40 of the ninth House, official figures show. From the fifth Lok Sabha onwards, they managed to remain well above 30.6 per cent in each election.

On the other hand, as many as 52 industrialists and traders (12 per cent) entered the House in the first election, a figure which dwindled to 17(3.3 per cent) in the sixth Lok Sabha.

However, in the last House, this vital category of professionals managed to strengthen themselves with 47 representatives, just one more than the earlier Lok Sabha. Figures showed that till the third Lok Sabha, as many as 50 members belonged to this class.

In any case, the ambiguous category of political and social workers -- with 103 members in the last Lok Sabha -- is emerging as an important category along with the members from the judiciary.

From none in the first two Lok Sabhas, the third House had 88 political and social workers (18.7 per cent), a figure which further rose to 22.9 per cent in the next election with 115 representatives.

However, what remains intriguing is their massive slump to four members (0.74 per cent) in the 10th House from a 86-strong group in the earlier House. They had 85 in the prior House and 105 in the sixth Lok Sabha.

The next important category has been of lawyers who in the last House stood at 70 (12.92 per cent), a massive slide from their 35.6 per cent representation (153 members) in the first Lok Sabha.

In any case, the percentage of lawyers has been going down. From 147 members in the second House, they came down to 115 in the next election and stood at 88 in the fourth House. The only time there was a solitary judge in the house was in the ninth House.

Pilots and sportspersons started foraying into the House from the 10th Lok Sabha with one member and two in the next.

There were 16 doctors in the last House and 26 in the earlier, comprising 4.81 per cent of the total strength of 543 members.

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