India : Criminals in politics

India’s democracy, despite being the largest in the world, is at stake. And criminals entering into politics is certainly adding to the woes of the already tainted national polity. Politicians with a criminal record is not a new phenomenon. But, there has been little progress in decriminalising the Indian polity especially looking at the recent Bihar Assembly election. 139 candidates participating in the 35 assembly constituencies have criminal records and 75 of them have serious criminal charges including murder or attempt to murder. Surprisingly, they got tickets from major parties. 65 per cent of RJD candidates have criminal cases against them followed by JD(U) (59 per cent) BJP (54 per cent), Congress (40 per cent) and BSP (40 per cent). Thisgives enough reasons to ponder over the issue.
The Bihar assembly election is not an isolated example. 206 members out of 403 who won the 2002 Uttar Pradesh assembly election had criminal backgrounds. More surprisingly, in its 2007 assembly election, 74 per cent of the candidates had criminal cases. Mafiosi like Arun Gawli, Hitendra Thakur and Pappu Kalani dominated the polity of Maharashtra for years. The situation at the national level is equally dreadful. As per Washington Times, in 2008, one-fourth of the 540 Indian Parliamentarians had criminal records. In 1996, there were 70 Parliamentarians and over 100 state assembly members with ‘criminal background.’ Shockingly, in the 2009 general elections, 43 MPs from BJP and 41 from Congress and 69 from other minor political parties are facing criminal cases against them. What is more shocking is that 19 BJP and 12 Congress newly elected MPs are having serious criminal charges against them.
Criminals entering into politics is a rare phenomenon in successful democracies. Why can't India stop criminals entering into politics? The Chances are rare unless strong measures are taken. India's strange laws do not allow undertrials to vote but allow even jailed politicians to contest in elections. A politician is barred from contesting elections only when guilt is established. There has also been lack of political will. However, Sonia Gandhi recently avowed, “We need to do more in contending with the influence of money and muscle power... We also need to build a consensus on how to prevent individuals with a criminal record from contesting elections." However, just a statement is certainly not enough. Such a strong decision needs greater commitments, political will and a strong leadership. Now the question is – can the current leadership deliver it? Obama has only termed India as 'the world's largest democracy'. Can we make it the most successful and transparent one?