Crime-politics nexus imperilling democracy

Even though there has been a hue and cry that those who break the law should not make the law, the attempts have been thwarted so far. Who will bell the cat? These criminal elements are themselves a part of the legislature. They would never ever want a change in the laws to their disadvantage. That leaves the judiciary. It has done its bit but is falling short.

Roadblocks: Democracy is about popular will but criminalisation of politics has created the danger of it getting subverted. PTI

BL Vohra

Former DGP, Tripura

By 2050, India is likely to have a well-known mafia don or a criminal as the Prime Minister with more than half of his cabinet consisting of criminals. This prediction is based on some facts. Out of the 539 winners analysed in 2019, 233 MPs (about 44%) have declared criminal cases against them. This is an increase of about 26% over the 2014 figures. An MP from Kerala has declared 204 criminal cases against himself! The figure is far more alarming when it comes to serious criminal cases. Around 159 (29 percent) winners in 2019 had declared serious criminal cases against them including cases related to rape, murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and crimes against women etc. This percentage was 14% in 2009 and 21% in 2014.

The situation is no better in the state assemblies. For example, according to ADR (Association for Democratic Reforms), over half of the newly-elected MLAs of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and West Bengal had declared criminal cases against them in the last elections. Further, the Supreme Court was informed in September 2020, while hearing a PIL, that 2,556 MLAs and MPs from 22 states are accused in criminal cases. This number rises to 4,422 if former MPs and MLAs from these states are also included.

As a very rough estimation of an average, if we divide 44% (the present figure of MPs with declared criminal records by them) by five decades since 1970, the average comes to around 8.8% increase in each decade. This figure should reach about 70.4% by 2050, presuming the speed of their increase remains the same. But actually, it is more as there was 26% rise in their figures from 2014 to 2019, in five years only.

In a private chat during which I was present, late PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, when he was not even an MP, had mentioned that in about two decades after Independence, there were hardly any criminal MPs. In the 1970s, initially the politicians started taking the help of criminals for winning elections. The criminals soon became wiser and they thought as to why support others and why should they themselves not come forward and enjoy the fruits of power which would give them much more than what they can have with their normal ‘hard work’ — and the die was cast. What started in that decade as a seed is now a big tree. Slowly in each subsequent Lok Sabha and State Assemblies, there has been a steady rise in their visibility and their speed is increasing. The Vohra Committee report in 1993 had also confirmed the criminal-politics connection.

The founding fathers of our Constitution were actually afraid of this scenario. Our first President Dr Rajendra Prasad, as President of the Constituent Assembly of India, said the following on November 26, 1949, before putting the motion for passing of the Constitution, “If the people who are elected are capable and men of character and integrity, then they would be able to make the best even of a defective Constitution. If they are lacking in these, the Constitution cannot help the country …We can only hope that the country will throw up such men in abundance.” His hope has been belied. Today, these elements are a powerful section in the country and in most of the states. In fact, some of them are such big mafia dons in their respective districts/area that they win each election from inside or outside the jail and from whichever party they contest, which they keep on changing depending on their need. If they don’t contest, their proxies win. Each political party is fond of them due to their winning ability. They are the route to the political power. Sometimes even the voters like them because these dons are able to get them what they want even from government agencies.

Today, many are so powerful that some of them even become ministers in the states. Once ensconced, they can look after themselves and their cronies in their ‘business’ well. The policemen who should be after them look after them and give them security. What a pity? They can manipulate the police and judicial system to their advantage once their party is in power. The police become their servant and the judicial system of delayed trials and long procedures of trial and appeals help them. Besides they brow-beat witnesses who turn hostile. These criminal elements are able to get cases against them withdrawn when their party comes to power.

Even though there has been a hue and cry that those who break the law should not make the law, they have thwarted all attempts so far to show them the door. Who will bell the cat? There are three wings of the government — the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. These criminal elements are themselves a part of the legislature. They would never ever want a change in the laws to their disadvantage — so no hope. The executive is subordinate to them — so again no hope. That leaves the judiciary. It has done its bit but is falling short. Their orders regarding affidavits declaring criminal cases against them while contesting, asking political parties to publish their criminal records after nominations are filed, fast-tracking of the trial of cases against them and so on has not produced any effective remedy. Still, the Supreme Court is the only hope. It must step out if we want to cleanse the system.

In a democracy, ultimately it is the will of the people that really matters. But in this matter, there is no chance of their rising in one big movement to purge the

system of the criminals because of various factors. This situation is an early warning of the danger to the Indian democracy, and the future of our children and grandchildren is a matter of great anxiety. So in sheer desperation, we can only raise our hands upwards and say, “So, help us God.”