BAR CRIMINALS FROM CONTESTING ELECTIONS

Sonia Gandhi said it. Speaking at the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Election Commission, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, chairperson of the UPA, called for barring candidates with criminal records from contesting in elections. The call has come a bit late, but what is more important is that the call has finally come, and that too, from a very responsible person holding a very high office. Given legal effect, this will greatly improve the quality of governance at all levels.

In the sixty years of post republic era, India has successfully emerged as a global player in the world economic scene by adopting a series of effective economic reforms and the credit goes to different parties that came to power at the centre, in that, no government at the centre tried to undo the achievements of the previous government.

But what was, unfortunately, overlooked was the simple truth that political reforms too have to be put in place from time to time if the economic reforms have to achieve the desired results. The replacement of British rule by Babu’s rule brought in rampant corruption, nepotism, use of money power and muscle power, criminalization of politics and, finally, the creation of an unbreakable nexus between the underworld, police, politicians and babus that left the common man a silent sufferer with no constitutional means to address his grievance. The track record of our honorable MPs will testify to this.

Today, after sixty years, Indian democracy remains a democracy of the powerful, by the powerful and for the powerful. The police don’t register cases if it involves powerful people, the victims are threatened, the lawyers use their skills to protect the law breaker than the law abiding and the judiciary is influenced, all to protect the big guns.

It is indeed a great call from no less a person than Mrs. Sonia Gandhi to stop criminals from contesting elections. American constitution has a provision barring criminals from holding public office for life. We just need a single constitutional amendment which will not only improve the quality of governance, but make India an enviable place to live.