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Source– The post is based on the article “Citizen action for clean politicians, cleaner politics” published in “The Indian Express” on 12th July 2023.
Syllabus: GS2- Polity
Relevance: Issues faced by Indian political system
News- The article talks about criminalisation of politics and the role of money power in the Indian political landscape.
What are some facts and statistics about criminalisation of politics in India?
1,777 Out of the 4,001 MLAs currently in session have criminal cases, which is 44%. The current Lok Sabha has 43% members with criminal cases.
28% of MLAs have serious criminal cases today. 47 MLAs have murder cases, 181 have attempted murder cases, 114 have crimes against women cases, and 14 have rape cases.
The states/Union Territories with highest number of MLAs with serious crimes cases are Delhi (53%), Bihar (59%), Maharashtra (39%), Jharkhand (38%), and Uttar Pradesh (38%).
The candidate with a criminal record has a winning chance over 15%. In comparison, it was 4.7% for those with a clean record.
The number of candidates with criminal records has increased only because the party leaders continue to give more tickets to them.
In advanced countries, there is no such system of distributing tickets. Candidates are selected in a more open and democratic process.
Winning is the means to recover the money spent and accumulate it for the next election.
ECI has taken very little action on this.
What shows the role of money power in politics?
The average assets of the MLAs were ₹13,63 crore. Candidates with criminal cases have average assets of ₹16,36 crore.
Winning depends on wealth. Candidates in Indian Elections are now spending more than the United States presidential election. Candidates are spending public money to promise freebies like free water, free electricity, free travel, and free food.
Spending on elections is at an all-time high. Money is being spent on clothes, mobile phones, cooking utensils, liquor, and cash for voters
