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March 2004
As the nation is
readying itself for the polls, people like Pappu Yadav, Raja
Bhaiyya, Shahabuddin and Bhai Thakur are back in circulation.
It is well known that all parties enlist the help of criminal
elements to dominate the election scene in India. There are
two views about criminalisation of politics. First, that
people are helpless since corruption is inherent to the
system; hence criminals are bound to dominate it. Second, the
common population are responsible for this trend as they are
either indifferent or support the criminal elements for their
personal benefit. Though the Judiciary and the Election
Commission (EC) have taken some steps to curb this trend,
these issues require immediate attention.
Will the norms
prescribed by the EC provide adequate checks to prevent the
entry of criminal elements in the electoral fray? Or will the
EC prove to be a paper tiger? What prompts political parties
to seek the assistance of criminal elements and, at times,
field them as candidates during the elections? Why do people
elect representatives with criminal background? What can be
done by the State and the Civil Society to curb the criminalisation of politics?
The IPCS invites
you to debate these questions.
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India - Pakistan 
