Political Diary
New
Delhi, 15 May 2018
Crime Pays In
Politics
JO JEETA WOH SIKANDER!
By Poonam I Kaushish
Taint is the flavour
of the new high stakes poll season in Karnataka. The more criminal and immoral,
the better. In the last few days, our netagan
have once again conclusively proved that this combination to power is all
pervasive. After all, the kursi is
the most luscious mistress to be loved, raped and conquered at all costs
along-with the paisa that goes with
it. Worse, even the faint wisp of demeanor has been discarded with the devil
taking the hind most!
In this free-for-all khichri what is disturbing and more
distressing is that all Parties are openly recognizing and nominating criminals
as candidates. Wherein the rogues' gallery of bandits, racketeers and murderers
have filled the halls of power and fame. Sadly, none care a damn in a
winner-takes-it-all scenario.
Shockingly, of the
2,654 candidates contesting in Karnataka’s Assembly elections 645 have criminal
cases against them. Of these 28% are from the three main Parties, Congress, BJP
and Janata Dal (S), according to an Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR)
analysis. The BJP tops the list with 83 (37%) of its 224 contenders facing criminal
charges.
The Congress comes
second with 59 (26%) of 220 and 41(20%) of 199 Janata Dal (S) contestants are embroiled
in criminal cases. Worse, instead of a decrease the number of ‘criminals’ as candidates
has gone up to 391 in 2018, from 334 in the 2013 elections.
Why? With power
translating into a number game, Parties field mafia dons as they convert their
muscle power into votes, often at gun point and emerge victorious. The
arrangement works on a quid-pro-quo. Candidates with criminal connections are
attractive to Parties as they often have deep pockets of cold, hard cash to fund
and fight elections and in turn Parties give criminals protection from the law
and respectability in society. Topped, by criminal candidates presenting themselves
as Robin Hood-like figures.
Not only Karnataka,
all States Assemblies and Parliament are stained by the same brush. Chilling
reality and cold Government statistics are on my side that shows that politics
has nothing to do with morality and accountability. Crime is now politics and
criminalisation of politics the current dispensation. Turn to any part of the
country politico-criminals are now ruling the roost.
How common place
their hall of power and shame is an eye-opener. Of the 541 MPs in Parliament
today 186 (34%) are facing serious criminal charges including murder (9),
attempted murder (17), kidnapping and crimes against women. Worse, the number
has steadily risen since 2004. Out of 543 Lok Sabha MPs in 2009-14 162 (30%)
had cases pending, up from 128 (24%) in 2004-09. Further, more than 30%, 1460
of 4807 sitting MPs and MLAs have declared criminal cases, 688 of whom with
“serious” charges.
Appalling is the
situation in the States. Shockingly, Jharkhand has the highest percentage 74%
of MLAs with cases pending (55 out of 74 MLAs), Bihar 58% and UP with 47%. More
scandalous, Parties present an ugly picture. The JMM accounts for 82 %, RJD 64%
SP 48%, BJP 31% and Congress 21% of criminal MPs and MLAs’.
From criminalisation
of politics to the politicisation of crime, India has indeed come a full
circle. Yesterday’s mafia dons are today our Right Honourables with their
“bullet-proof vests.” Unreachable by the long arms of law, they are the law and
all-powerful. Bringing things to such a pass that our elected jan sevaks now dance to the tune of
their underworld benefactors at the cost of the janata, democratic ethos and good governance.
Think. Mafia dons
have been elected from prisons, some MPs continue to hold durbars in jail, with
all home comforts, instruct chamchas via
cellphone and rule their empire, issuing diktats that few dare disobey. Not a
few take the anticipatory bail route to avoid arrest, others simply abscond
only to "surrender" when ready. Only recently, Lalu’s RJD came up
trumps in the Bihar elections despite him being in jail.
One could dismiss
this politicization of crime as an evolving phase of our democratic process.
But the tragedy is that our democratic system has been usurped by criminals. Be
it a petty thug, dus numeriya or a
mafia don. The only thing that matters is on whose side the criminal is. His or
ours? They are all the same. Only the degrees differ.
Akin to the famous
story. An angry man tells an American official that the man the US was
championing abroad was “a son of a bitch”! Pat came the response, “Yes; but
he’s our son of a bitch”!
It is this mutual
benefit and camaraderie between the criminal-party nexus which is the cause célèbre for our netagan resisting passing any
legislation that would rid politics of the cancer of the three C’s ---
criminalization, corruption and crisis of credibility. See, how our MPs and
MLAs divide along Party lines on most issues but close ranks when it comes to
taking steps to addressing this problem.
Reading like a
virtual whose who: Former Union Railway Minister and ex-Bihar Chief Minister
RJD’s Lalu Yadav, YSR Congress’s Jaganmohan Reddy, 2010 Commonwealth Games in-charge
Congress’s Suresh Kalmadi, ex Haryana and Jharkhand Chief Ministers Hooda and Madhu
Koda and AIDMK’s Shashikala et al. There are 450 ‘tainted’ constituencies where
at least one candidate faces criminal charges, in 104 two and 56 with over 5
contenders.
Undoubtedly, India’s
downslide has been rapid. Most distressing is that it doesn’t strike any cord
anywhere as Parties are openly recognizing and nominating criminals as
candidates. Why? Because there is no rule of law and the State has lost its Iqbal, authority to govern and arrest
those who break the law.
Thanks to a weak
police and legal system which ensures that mafia-turned netagan get away with murder. They rule by law: use force with impunity, collect protection money, settle
disputes unlike the State bogged down in legal wrangles and use loads of money
to muscle out honest candidates. A milieu of jo jeeta woh sikander, a vicious circle of you scratch my back, I
scratch yours!
Why do mafia dons invest large sums in
getting a neta’s tag? It is a ticket
to continue extortions using political power, gain influence and ensure that
cases against them are dropped. Thanks to legal delays, often abetted by
political pressures, make convictions of resourceful crooks rather rare.
Besides, the returns on political investments are so high and profitable that
criminals are disinclined to invest in anything else.
In a environment
wherein our Parliamentary system has now been hijacked by the criminalisation
of politics and where the mafia dons get away like escape artists, the aam aadmi is naturally cynical. No one
wants to vote for a criminal. And yet for years criminals have been using the
electoral system to enter politics, with the janata hopelessly looking on.
Alas, crime and
politics will remain inextricably intertwined as long as India doesn't make its
election financing system transparent, Parties become more democratic and the State
begins to deliver ample services and justice.
Clearly, no longer
will technical or legalistic response suffice. The answer must lie in good,
clean democratic political practice, watchdog media and a vigilant public
opinion that insists on raising the bar for all Parties. Importantly, if we do
not urgently put the correctives in place, today’s criminal king-makers may be
tomorrow’s kings! ---- INFA
(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)
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