All is not well in the politics of India.
Our Indian democracy has seen a steady rise in the level of criminalization in Indian politics. It disrupts the constitutional ethos, strikes at the root of the democratic form of government and oppresses the citizens, which experts believe is one of the reasons why corruption is so deeply rooted in the system that no such There is no strict law that requires political parties to cancel the membership of tainted candidates.
More than 40 percent of parliamentarians in India’s parliament face criminal charges – some as serious as murder and rape – and the list is growing, the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) said, with the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) saying that a part of the opposition Congress party is an electoral reform group. The MP is facing 204 cases including murder and dacoity. At least 233 of the 543 members designated as winning seats face criminal proceedings, according to the ADR, whose election chief Anil Verma said there is a “disturbing trend” in parliament that is “bad for democracy”. Is”. She studied the records of 539 winners and found that the number of people facing criminal cases was the highest since the study began in 2004.
The crime-politician nexus is no less than the Supreme Court of the country. The Supreme Court ordered Parliament to “cure the malpractices” of criminalizing politics by enacting a law to ensure that persons facing serious criminal cases do not enter the political arena. It additionally exhorted that the “contaminated stream of legislative issues” be tidied up. A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by previous Chief Justice Dipak Misra saw that criminalization of governmental issues was an “incredibly unfortunate and terrible circumstance” and said that this “instantiably developing trend” has a “tendency to send down the backbone of constitutional democracy”. Is. , The court said criminalization of politics was “not incurable”, but the issue needed to be tackled at the earliest before it could become “deadly” for democracy. “Our Indian democracy has seen a steady rise in the level of criminalization in Indian politics. It disrupts the constitutional ethos, strikes at the root of the democratic form of government and oppresses citizens,” believe experts, adding that a major reason why corruption is so deeply rooted in the system is that such There is no strict law that requires political parties to cancel the membership of tainted candidates.
Indian laws bar people from contesting elections if they have been convicted in office for offenses punishable by imprisonment of two or more years, with some exceptions depending on the offense. Conviction is allowed to candidates standing for the post for the first time. None of the 185 MPs from the previous parliament who faced criminal charges were convicted. Many have returned for new terms.
The ADR campaigned for accountability in Indian politics and successfully petitioned the Supreme Court for candidates to record their educational, financial and criminal records. Mr Verma said the political class tried to avoid reform. But he added: “We will continue to fight this menace legally and demand that the courts bar candidates facing criminal charges.”
In fact, corruption is so rampant among politicians in the interior, rife with social and gender inequalities, that discredited candidates often use their slander as a badge of honour. Arrogant claims are common among candidates about who the “biggest criminal” is. In a classic case of life imitating art, Bollywood, the Indian film industry, often portrays Robin Hood-esque criminal politicians as heroes. Many such films have become hits. Rising costs of elections and an opaque election financing system featuring parties and candidates inevitably leads to parties preferring cash-swamped candidates. No serious effort has been made to clean up the system as a flawed system. Suitable for all.
The Government of India amended the FCRA with retrospective effect and passed the Money Bill without any discussion in the Parliament. It has set a dangerous precedent. The move has institutionalized unlimited anonymous funding for political parties, which cannot be questioned or accessed under the Right to Information Act 2005.
The festival of democracy in India is celebrated with hatred and violence. We are as used to campaigns as its frontline soldiers with vote-bank politics, illogical hate speeches and social media trends. India is the largest democracy globally, but it has shown itself as one of the largest democracies with a large number of criminals as its representatives. These criminals are hollowing out our country. The person we are choosing to make the law is the same person who is a criminal before the law. But as citizens, we cannot absolve ourselves of the guilt of voting for those criminals in elections. The primary review question each resident ought to ask themselves is for what good reason am I picking this competitor?
Every criminal background candidate influences the particular field because of his wealth, power and hegemony, so
Not that they serve the people. Criminals get votes out of fear that they have created fear among the people. Political parties are giving him tickets to get the winning seat. His candidate’s victory is more important than serving the constituency. The NN Vohra Committee report on criminalization of politics discussed how criminal gangs flourish under the supervision and protection of politicians. Sometimes the candidates themselves are gang leaders. This protection is given back to them through capital investment in electoral expenses and voter support during elections.
In 2020, a Supreme Court bench of Justice RF Nariman and Justice Ravindra Bhatt cracked down on this alarming rise of sitting MPs and MLAs with criminal backgrounds. As per the order, political parties will have to publish the details of all their candidates regarding criminal cases pending against them not only on one local and one national newspaper but also on their social media handles and party websites.
The parties will have to give a detailed reasoning as to why they chose such candidates with criminal records over others. He forced the political parties to answer the question as to why they were giving tickets to such candidates. If political parties fail to comply with SC orders, the Election Commission will report it to the SC, and the party president will be charged with contempt of court under Articles 129 and 142.
What do political parties gain by recruiting criminally linked individuals, especially when it can be self-defeating because the image of the party can be tarnished for pitting criminals in elections? This is where the role of ‘competition’ comes into play. With the proliferation of political parties and the increasing size of voters, electoral democracy has become a costly affair, requiring a constant influx of funds to keep its wheels turning. Criminal candidates with illegally earned money available to political parties as “self-financing” candidates
