A report shows that since the 2009 general election, the number of winners with declared criminal cases has increased from 30 percent in 2009 to 43 percent in 2019.
Delhi: A majority of elected Members of Legislative Assemblies across the five states of Assam, West Bengal, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala were found to be either millionaires (about 66 percent ) or had criminal cases (about 52 percent) filed against them. About 30 percent or 241 winning candidates had serious criminal cases against them as per a report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). The report defined serious criminal cases as assault, corruption, kidnap, murder, crimes against women, etc.
Ujjal Biswas, elected Trinamool Congress cabinet minister from Nadia district said that people are given tickets to fight elections based on their credibility within the party and their work in the past years. A list of candidates is sent at the district level, he said, and the seniors decide.
Ujjal Biswas, elected Trinamool Congress cabinet minister from Nadia district said that people are given tickets to fight elections based on their credibility within the party and their work in the past years. A list of candidates is sent at the district level, he said, and the seniors decide.
“Each candidate from their party funds their own campaign and no money is given by the party. Trinamool Congress does not field candidates to show off their money, candidates fight elections because they want to work,” he added.
He mentioned that he spent about Rs. 10 to 20 lakhs in the 2021 West Bengal state election.
Nandagopan, a voter from Kerala said, “People from the middle class are not able to fight elections as fighting elections is not an easy task, you have to have basic minimum funds considering the person is an independent.” He added that a person cannot spend Rs. 20 to 25 lakhs in one go in an election fight.
Lahari Dam, a voter from Kolkata said, “Women rarely ever think about going into politics. For actors it’s different since they would get more popularity and the party would get more votes. It is like a mutual contract between them. Obviously, I would love to see more women in politics but given the current conditions in our politics, it is not at all conducive to women.”
West Bengal saw the highest number of women candidates winning in all five states. Out of the 292 candidates, about 40 of them are women.
Dam added that while no political party is saintly, her decision to vote for the Trinamool was personal. For her, in this election, the party mattered more than the individual candidate. “I do not even know a single person who actually checked who their candidate was, everyone voted for the party,” she said.
Nandagopan added that the media would share some blame in all this too. “I remember that there was a doctor who got only one vote. One fact is that they (independents) are not given any opportunity to present themselves better as the media rarely focuses on them. They do not speak their perspectives as no one considers them as a viable candidate.”
“But there is no other choice, we have to vote, no?”
At 71 percent, Kerala had the highest number of winning candidates with criminal cases. Out of 136 winning candidates analyzed by the report, 96 candidates had declared criminal cases against them. About 27 percent had serious criminal cases. Tamil Nadu, on the other hand, topped the charts for having the maximum number of winning candidates who are millionaires; 192 out of 224 candidates, about 86 percent.
The 2019 general elections saw a similar trend. ADR analyzed 539 winning candidates of the Lok Sabha elections and found that 233 or 43 percent had criminal cases and 159 or 29 percent had serious criminal cases lodged against them. About 475 or 88 percent of the elected representatives were millionaires. Out of 543, only 59 winners were women.
Their report also highlighted that since the 2009 general election, the number of winners with declared criminal cases has increased from 30 percent in 2009 to 43 percent in 2019. A similar trend was seen for millionaire candidates; in 2009 about 58 percent of winners were millionaires which increased to 88 percent in 2019. A meager rise was also seen in women’s representation from 11 percent in 2009 to14 percent in 2019.
Hari Krishan, a voter from Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu said that this is not just the case with Tamil Nadu, all other state elections, even the general elections have candidates who are criminals and have lots of money. “But there is no other choice, we have to vote, no? If one does not vote for a candidate, given their background, the next person would also have cases against him/her.”
“To be honest, we do not know the real reason for the cases,” he said. They might be bogus cases drawn up to defame the candidate, he added.
Vivilian Richards, BJP MLA from Nellithope constituency, Puducherry and son of A Johnkumar, said, “Tickets were given on the basis of past work done by the candidates in their constituencies. Given that my father had won the Nellithope constituency in 2016 by a margin of 12,000 votes, they had decided to take him. For me, they have taken me because he has given a lead of 12,000 votes so if his son stands on behalf of him, the chances of winning will be maximum.”
He added that if the women are ready to come and stand in the elections, we will support them. Since face value and the party name play a key role, Chandira Priyanga, All India NR Congress MLA from Nedungadu won the election because of people’s opinions. Puducherry saw only one woman being elected as an MLA.
Professor Nisar Ul Haq from the Department of Political Science, Jamia Millia Islamia, said, “It is also at the national level, so it’s not about the state election. I think that the much needed electoral reforms which are necessary to weed out such types of problems of criminalization or corruption etc. are not taking place. This is the biggest problem. We celebrate our democracy but at the same time we don’t want to weed out the evils taking place in the Indian democracy. We are not doing anything about it.”
He added that while one cannot apply one theory to explain or generalize this, it can also be seen as the working of an elitist theory of democracy where the elites dominate in various spheres of life and use political power cunningly.
