Let us wake up & stem the rot

Arun Chaubey

Criminalisation of politics is increasingly becoming an issue of serious concern. Although every political party appears to be helpless or has a compulsion to win the election, this aspect can not be compromised in the long run as we are still a young democracy. Otherwise, Jaunpur example of a candidate, whose body was found hanging from a tree would be witnessed in every nook and corner of the nation. Although the Election Commission has sought a report in this regard from the concerned district administration in Uttar Pradesh, the case in point is a testimony of the bitter political rivalry attaining the proportion of a gang war. At least, the world’s largest democracy has to ponder over if it has to go ahead with this experiment in a healthy way. If we look at our past records, in the 14th Lok Sabha there were 125 candidates from 17 states and two Union Territories with criminal records, and of these 96 faced charges in which they could get sentences of two years or more. The BJP (23) and Congress (17) were leading, followed by RJD (7), SP (9) and BSP (5). But the surprising element is that these leaders had not won the election for the first time, but had served more than one term in Parliament. The Representation of the People’s Act, which says that a person sentenced for two or more years can be disqualified, has so far failed to deal with the problem effectively. But in the contest for 15th Lok Sabha polls several criminal politicians have been denied the opportunity at the behest of the judiciary. One can say it has proved to be a ray of hope for our democracy, but an effective crusade is needed to root out this menace. No doubt campaigns are being carried against the criminal politicians by some NGOs and media organizations, yet the impact is yet to trickle down among the masses. But on a positive note, it is being noticed at least in urban areas. A pioneer in these efforts is the National Election Watch, which has studied the past records and is keeping a close eye on the affidavits submitted by the candidates. It has released the data related to criminal politicians for the first phase which states that as many as 222 tainted candidates of the total 1425 have filed their papers. These candidates with criminal records have been fielded by the major political parties, and of these Congress tops with 24, followed by BJP (23), BSP (17) and SP(10). Bihar is at the top with 51 criminal candidates. There are 306 charges of heinous nature on these candidates which includes, murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, extortion, etc. An election which will decide the future of India is being fought by hardened criminals, murderers, kidnappers, extortionists, rapists and fraudsters. If we will step out and vote for them, it will be a conscious invitation to doom. Lets not misuse out ‘powerful’ vote, to summon leaders with dark, scary pasts in the highest rings of power.