Bihar: The Bihar Assembly elections can be termed 'unique' for because it was held during the COVID crisis and also at a time when the Supreme Court has placed the onus on the political parties to put an end to criminal politics.
On February 13, the judiciary clarified that the success rate should not be only criteria for the selection of candidates and that the political parties should also explain why they gave tickets to candidates with a criminal background.
The political parties did not heed to those orders is a testament to the fact that in more than 89 per cent of the constituencies candidates with criminal background had contested in Bihar.
The parties which competed with each other in sponsoring 'Bahubalis' with muscle and money power, cleverly highlighted the qualities of excessive popularity, social service, educational qualifications, the super performance in dealing with the COVID crisis, etc., of the candidates as their merits and brushed aside the crimes against them.
They published the attributes of their candidates in some unpopular Hindi newspapers and fulfilled the formality of obeying the orders of the Supreme Court.
The spirit of the Election Commission's orders that the candidates should repeatedly announce the history of their criminal record through media well before the polling date was completely lost.
As a result, the Bihar Legislative Assembly is plagued with a record of 68 per cent members with a criminal record -- ten per cent more than the last assembly.
The number of fresh MLAs facing charges of heinous crimes such as murder, kidnapping and atrocities against women has risen to a record 51 per cent.
73 per cent of RJD members, 64 per cent of BJP cadres, 20 out of 43 in JD (U) and 18 out of 19 Congress MLAs are criminals. Hence, It can be termed that Bihar's good fortune is devoured by criminal political termites.
Where criminal politics is rampant, development is a shallow word. The per capita income of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and UP, which have been tarnished as sick states, was almost equal in the 1980s.
Taking advantage of the economic reforms of the 90s, Rajasthan (Rs 18 lakh), Madhya Pradesh (about Rs 1 lakh) and Uttar Pradesh (over Rs 70,000 crore) have steadily progressed leaving Bihar far behind at Rs 46,664.
With the rise of criminal politics in Bihar where industrial progress has not kept pace, the proliferation of unemployed and migration of workers is increasing year after year.
A Public Interest Litigation has also been filed alleging that the Election Commission is also responsible for making the Supreme Court's order ineffective.
If the Election Commission which has the constitutional responsibility of conducting free and fair elections had strictly adhered to the orders of the Supreme Court, people with criminal background could not have had the audacity to win elections and move freely as Members of Legislative Assembly.
The Constitutional Tribunal’s suggestion that corruption and criminal politics are harming the democracy from its roots and to counter the danger the Parliament should pass a special act has never been regarded. It is against this backdrop that optimism is being expressed in the Supreme Court's orders that if there is an atmosphere where people are fully aware of their candidates and vote vigilantly, they can defeat candidates with a criminal background.
In such a case, why shouldn't the Election Commission take the responsibility of obtaining comprehensive details of the candidates and keep them in the public domain?
If it is the right of the people to know, then it should be the duty of the Election Commission to inform them.
These kinds of reforms are need of the hour if criminal politics are to be controlled and wiped out!
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