Ah, the great Indian tamasha of democracy—where the ballot box doubles as a get-out-of-jail-free card. Picture this: as the dust settles on the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, nearly half the chaps who waltzed into Parliament are lugging around criminal baggage heavier than a minister’s expense account. Forty-eight per cent of our freshly minted MPs have declared criminal cases against them, with a whopping 29 per cent staring down serious charges like murder, rape, or atrocities against the weak.
If this doesn’t make your blood boil, mate, what will? It’s not just a statistic; it’s a slap in the face to every voter who queued up under the sweltering sun, dreaming of a cleaner polity.Let’s cut the hogwash and stare at the mirror. The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), sifting through affidavits like a no-nonsense auditor, lays it bare: 41 per cent of all candidates who threw their hats in the ring this time confessed to criminal antecedents—up from a shameful 29 per cent in 2019.
Serious ones? Twenty-eight per cent, peddling everything from attempt-to-murder raps to crimes against women and Dalits. And who wins the jackpot? The rogues, of course. Candidates with these dark clouds over their heads had a fat 14 per cent better shot at victory than the clean sorts.
It’s as if the electorate’s got a soft spot for the baddies, rewarding them with seats while the upright ones lick their wounds. But don’t point fingers at the aam aadmi alone; the real puppeteers are the political behemoths. Take the BJP, our self-proclaimed guardians of righteousness—72 per cent of their candidates came with criminal tags, and get this: 78 per cent of their winners did too, including 53 per cent with serious heat.
Then there’s the TMC, strutting in Bengal like they own the chaos: 63 per cent of their lot, 70 per cent of victors. SP in UP? 60 per cent candidates, 65 per cent winners. Even the Congress, with its holier-than-thou lectures, clocks 50 per cent candidates and 55 per cent MPs in the dock.
Only the AAP and CPI(M) look marginally less dodgy, at 33 per cent and 25 per cent respectively. What’s the common thread? These aren’t slip-ups; they’re calculated gambles. Parties field the muscle because it wins booths through fear, not persuasion. In states like UP and Bihar, where 47 per cent and 45 per cent of candidates respectively flaunt cases, it’s practically a job qualification.
This rot isn’t new, but it’s festering worse. Back in 2014, only 31 per cent of winners had cases; by 2019, it jumped to 43 per cent. Now? A grotesque 48 per cent.
We’ve gone from occasional scandals to a full-blown epidemic, where khadi-clad netas treat the hustings like a mafia audition. Remember, these aren’t petty traffic fines—these are FIRs for heinous acts that would land any of us behind bars for life. Yet, the Election Commission twiddles thumbs, issuing limp advisories while the Supreme Court occasionally barks about barring the convicted.
Words, not action. Why? Because power protects its own, and the system thrives on this muck. So, what’s the fix, you ask? Start with the ECI growing a spine: mandate rejection of nominations for those with serious pending cases, as the apex court nudged years ago but no one’s bothered to enforce.
Parties? Ditch the criminal syndicates; let merit, not menace, pick your flags. And us voters—aye, that’s the kicker—we must stop romanticising the ‘strongman’. Next time a poster boy with a dozen dockets flashes that toothy grin, bin the vote. Demand the clean, the capable. Else, we’ll keep electing a Parliament that’s less house of the people and more den of the damned. India deserves better than this circus of crooks. Time to clean house, before the house collapses on us all.