With the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of Covid, it brought economic activity to a standstill but also paused regular political activity. 

An analysis carried out by Mint of more than 1,200 hobbies and special interests named by 373 MPs in their Lok Sabha website profiles suggests that most may have spent their time on books.

Reading is by far the most popular of the 31 kinds of hobbies reported by MPs. Literature and biographies have the most takers. Apart from “favourite pastimes” and “special interests”, MPs were also asked about their preferred sports in their Lok Sabha profiles. The analysis found 82 favourite sports. These include the entries under the “favourite sports” question as well as the sports that some members may have named under other profile items.

The survey also found cricket was the top choice, with 90 MPs naming it. Football (62), badminton (58), kabaddi (55), and yoga and fitness (47) were the other popular interests. Members who said they were office-bearers in associations of any particular sport were assumed to have an affinity for that sport even if they did not explicitly say so.