OUR LOVE FOR CRIMINALS IN POLITICS

October 31, 2004

OUR LOVE FOR CRIMINALS IN POLITICS
POLITICAL PARTIES ADDING GREASE TO FIRE

In general talk most of us including our politicians having clean image are against criminalisation of politics, but in practice we send the criminals in the Parliament in large numbers. Out of 540 MPs of the Lok Sabha we have as many as 135 members having criminal records. Some of our ministers are facing criminal charges, while out Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wanted a new definition of the word 'criminal' to save a minister of his cabinet some time back. Only few days ago, the Cabinet rejected a proposal for a Lok Pal to curb corruption and nepotism in high public places.

Where are we going ? In the past ten years, the number of criminals in the Lok Sabha has almost doubled. In 1996, the Election Commission of India had found over 70 parliamentarians and more than 100 elected representatives in state assemblies having 'criminal background'.
In the previous Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA government, there were three ministers who continued in office despite having charges and court proceedings brought against them. However, at least six ministers in the new Congress -led UPA government were in a similar position. Only Shibu Soren has to quit his ministership, after a court in Jharkhand compelled him to surrender in a murder case lodged against him 30 years ago. Manmohan Singh government tried its best to keep him in office, but thanks to the opposition pressure, he has to ultimately resign. The court sent him in judicial remand at that time.

However, it is the fact that few , if any, politicians actually has to spend time in prison. This fact draws more and more criminals into politics. They are given tickets by all the national and regional political parties in large numbers. The criminals , who do not get ticket from any recognised political party, try to contest elections on their own as independents. The support of hardcore criminal gangs to political parties and candidates had become an unsavoury reality. Even a recent study by the Election Commission put the problem of crime and politics in India into stark perspective and said that the nexus between the two threatened every area of the nation's life.

Let us look at the present scenario, as revealed in a study, based on affidavits filed by the candidates in the last election, conducted by Bangalore based Public Affairs Centre. It said that there is clear evidence that a larger proportion of our less educated MPs are richer than the well schooled MPs and are even ahead of the latter on the criminal front.

The link between money and muscle power has been established in its study. Of the 132 MPs who are undergraduates and below, over 30 per cent have criminal cases against them compared to 21% for the rest. Their average value of assets is close to Rs. 2 crores each compared to less than Rs. 1.4 crores for the more educated. This is not to say that all MPs with low education levels are rich or are crime prone. But more among them are richer and have more criminal cases than those with higher educational attainments. The question to ask is whether the less educated among the MPs get elected because they are richer and command criminal links than the rest of the members. Do political parties attract them because they compensate for their low education through their asset power and criminal prowess?
Four states, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand account for over 50 per cent of all MPs with criminal cases that could attract severe penalties (5 years' imprisonment or more). There is thus a concentration of criminally charged MPs in a few states.

As for the money power, the study said that the average MP is not an “aam admi”, but a “class admi”. Over 50 per cent of the MPs have assets of over Rs. 50 lakhs. The Indian National Congress has the largest proportion of crorepathi MPs (45 per cent). The Congress Party MPs account for more than 50 per cent of the assets of all MPs. Even the runners up (those who polled the next highest votes) also are high asset persons. Money power is truly the entry barrier in this game. Only the two communist parties have the largest proportion of MPs with assets less than Rs. 10 lakhs. These two parties have no crorepathi MPs. The average assets of an MP are valued at Rs. 1.64 crores. None of the MPs of the two communist parties owe any outstanding government dues.

Surprisingly, the report said , it is the less educated MPs who are the richest in terms of asset values. The per capita assets of those with undergraduate education or less amount to Rs. 1.93 crores while graduates and post graduates have average assets Rs. 1.37 crores.

According to the study, nearly a quarter (23.2per cent) of the MPs have reported criminal cases against them. One out of 12 among these members have cases that could attract penalties amounting to imprisonment for one year or less. One out of two among them (over 50 per cent ), on the other hand, have cases that could attract penalties of imprisonment of five or more years. There is a regional concentration in terms of criminal cases. The states of Bihar, U.P., Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh that account for only 28 per cent of the MPs have over 50 per cent of the members with the high penalty criminal cases.

Nearly half of all MPs have reported outstanding debts to public financial institutions. Outstanding debts in excess of Rs.10 lakhs were reported by 13.6 per cent while debts below Rs. one lakh were reported by only 5.4 per cent. The total outstanding debt of these MPs amounts to Rs.41.3 crores. Dues to government departments were reported by 13.8 per cent of the members. Dues are in excess of Rs. one lakh for 8.4 per cent of the MPS. Their total government dues amount to Rs. 7.3 crores.

There are no criminal cases registered against 83 per cent of the Congress MPs and 80 per cent of the BJP MPs. RJD leads in the proportion of criminal cases (43.5 per cent). In respect of criminal cases with severe penalties (5 or more years' imprisonment), RJD leads with 34.8 per cent of MPs, BSP with 27.8 per cent and Samajwadi Party with 19.4 per cent. The proportion of Congress MPs who fall into this category account for 7.6 per cent of their total and BJP MPs account for 10.9 per cent.

Of the total outstanding debts of MPs from public financial institutions, 45 per cent is accounted for by Congress MPs though they comprise only less than 30 per cent of all MPs. BJP is next with 23 per cent of the total. But larger debts (in excess of Rs.10 lakhs) have been incurred by Shivsena MPs (41.7 per cent), followed by DMK (20 per cent ), Congress (17.9 per cent ), and BJP (12.5 per cent). Substantial proportions of CPI MPs (80 per cent), CPI (M) MPs (66.7 per cent) and BSP MPs (66.6 per cent) reported no outstanding debt.

The pride of place on account of government dues to be paid goes to RJD MPs (52.2 per cent ). These MPs account for 69 per cent of the total government dues. RJD also leads in the proportion of MPs that owe dues in excess of Rs. one lakh (34.8 per cent ), followed by Congress MPs (13.8 per cent ), and BJP MPs (6.6 per cent). No government dues are reported by CPI (M) and CPI MPs.
When our MPs and Ministers face charges ranging from murder to extortion and rape, apart from general corruption, what are we to do. Let us think about it , when there is time. These facts are before us mainly because of the statements required to be filed at the time of nomination as per new rule enforced by the Supreme Court of India. Why our political parties love to give tickets to the criminals and why our voters vote for them? In recent years there have even been newspaper reports on a series of kidnappings in the western part of the state, allegedly carried out to meet the expenses of politicians. The real danger to the democracy , people and the nation as a whole is that criminals are becoming popular. (EOM)