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criminalization of politics
1. WHAT IS CRIMINALIZATION OF POLITICS
The criminalization of politics means the participation
of criminals in politics which includes that criminals
can contest in the elections and get elected as
members of the Parliament and the State legislature.
It takes place primarily due to the nexus between
politicians and criminals.
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3. WHAT ARE THE REASONS FOR CRIMINALIZATION
FOR POLITICS
Lack of Enforcement: Several laws and court
judgments have not helped much, due to the lack of
enforcement of laws and judgments.
Vested Interests: Publishing of the entire criminal
history of candidates fielded by political parties may
not be very effective, as a major chunk of voters tend to
vote through a narrow prism of community interests
like caste or religion
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4. Muscle Power and Corruption: Use of muscle power by
politicians to collect votes in their favour. Also, the use of
money and other freebies in form of cash and kind both
affect the final results of the election to a large extent.
Model Code of Conduct: Its blatant violation is seen in
almost all elections.
Limited Awareness: Making voters aware of candidates
with criminal antecedents has its limitations.
Lack of Governance: The SC’s orders or other legal
mechanisms are not fully followed thereby creating an
anarchic environment in the country. Law breakers end up
becoming law makers.
Polarisation Towards Caste/Religions: People still go by the
caste system and favour candidates on its basis instead of
considering the actual background of the candidate
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7. Effects of political criminalization
Against the Principle of Free and Fair Election: It limits the
choice of voters to elect a suitable candidate.
It is against the ethos of free and fair election which is the
bedrock of a democracy.
Affecting Good Governance: The major problem is that the law-
breakers become law-makers, this affects the efficacy of the
democratic process in delivering good governance.
These unhealthy tendencies in the democratic system reflect a
poor image of the nature of India’s state institutions and the
quality of its elected representatives.
Affecting Integrity of Public Servants: It also leads to increased
circulation of black money during and after elections, which in
turn increases corruption in society and affects the working of
public servants.
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9. why in news
Supreme Court has asked the Centre whether it was
“willing” to favor a lifetime ban on contesting elections
for people convicted of offences.
Government has rejected the idea of a lifetime ban on
convicted persons contesting elections or becoming an
office-bearer of a political party citing reason that MPs
and MLAs were not bound by specific “service
conditions”.
The government had maintained that disqualification
under the Representation of the People Act of 1951 for
the period of prison sentence and six years thereafter
was enough for legislators.
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10. CONCLUSION
The increasing criminalization of politics and
corruption hits the root of democracy.
For regulating the affairs of the political party, it is
essential to have a cleaner electoral process. Therefore,
the electoral process is essential to strengthening the
election commission.
The publication of criminal records of the person who
is contesting the election must be in such a manner
that it is easily available to the general public, not on
the party website because in rural areas most people
don’t know the uses of the internet properly.
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