Criminalisation of Politics

The Association of Democratic Reforms has analysed the criminal records of the newly elected MPs. It makes the following observations:

• Around 233 MPs (43 per cent) are facing criminal charges.
• About 29 per cent of the cases are related to rape, murder, attempt to murder or crime against women.
• There has been an increase of 109 per cent in 2019 in the number of MPs with declared serious criminal cases when compared to 2009.
• 29 winners have declared cases related to hate speech.

The increased number of MPs with criminal charges against them is somewhere an indication of the increasing role of money power and muscle power in Indian politics. In the 17th Lok Sabha, nearly half of the newly-elected Lok Sabha members have criminal records, a 26 per cent increase as compared to 2014.