E-Book - Mahatma Gandhi

174 Contextualising Gandhian Thoughtit can buy seats where elections are indirect; it can buy theloyalty of legislators or buy their silence. It can engineerdefections. It can save or break Governments. So, politicianswho seek the summits of power must make money or get thebacking of 'money-banks.'The next phase commences when those whose moneypower or muscle power gets candidates elected soon begin towonder why they should not themselves turn candidates. Thus,you have the 'gradual criminalisation of politics, theintroduction of persons with startling criminal records into thelegislatures, municipal corporations and local bodies. It isreported that in some municipal councils, the majority ofsuccessful candidates are persons with criminal records. In oneMunicipal Corporation, there is a known organiser ofcommunal violence who got elected from five constituenciessimultaneously. In one State, there was a Minister who, asreported in some reputed journals, figured in 256 out of the 388cases of kidnappings in the State, had 49 criminal casespending against him in two districts, and along with his goons,was reported by reputed journals to be involved in 150 deathsduring communal riots and 35 murders during generalelections, and so on. I do not think a lengthier citation isneeded. In another State, the continuing conflicts between thegangs led by two legislators is reported to have taken threedistricts to the verge of a civil war. In yet another State, oneparty is reported to have fielded 30 candidates who hadconnections with dacoit gangs. Thus we see that criminals havewalked into the chambers of legislatures as well as the Councilsof Ministers, acquiring respectability, acquiring immunity,making a mockery of the laws of the legislature, thebureaucracy, the judiciary, and the democratic system itself.How can a system retain its credibility when it tends to pushcriminals to the summits of power, when political partiesthemselves induct anti-social elements into power?