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Preventing criminals' entry in legislature is need of the hour: HK Dua | Journalist-cum-Member of Parliament HK Dua on Monday urged the Government to take a serious note of consistent entry of criminals into the Indian political system, a trend which may turn dangerous for the republic of India in future.
Delivering his maiden speech on a Bill related to Electoral Reforms in the Rajya
Sabha with the Deputy Chairman K Rahman Khan in the Chair, HK Dua said: "I have
gone through the Bill. It is well-meant. But I find it limited in scope and range.
It tackles some of the minor glitches that have come to the notice of the Election
Commission and other glitches, which have been noticed in the 57 years of the
nation's electoral experience. But these 57 years have thrown up major challenges
before the electoral system and if we don't meet those challenges, the electoral
system will come into disrepute and that will pose a threat to the democracy also.
I will just mention two of them. One has been - Members have been rightly trying
to focus on - the role of big money in elections. It is a serious problem." Dua sought to draw the attention of the House on how criminals are threatening
the electoral system and the functioning of the democracy in the country. "Criminals
in large numbers are infiltrating into the political system....in many Assembly
elections they have used their money and muscle. Earlier, they were supporting
the candidates and now they themselves are the candidates. And many of them are
getting elected." Dua said: "The bureaucracy in the States is afraid of these
criminal leaders, because they have clout with top people in many States.....the
bureaucracy is afraid, because they will be transferred or any enquiry commission
will be instituted against them..... Police officials are also afraid of taking
action against criminal and mafia leaders." "When criminal leaders have clout
with Chief Minister and the local bureaucracy is very deferential to them, the
governance in the districts is bound to suffer," he pointed out. Dua, The Tribune
group of newspapers' Editor-in-Chief, said that there is indeed a failure of the
system to check their entry into the system. "If this continues, imagine, if they
capture a State. And then they will capture more States," he said and appealed
that the political parties should do something about it urgently. "They have to
come to a consensus on how to ban the criminals at the entry stage itself." Demanding
to ban their entry, Dua remarked there was no merit in looking for security while
sleeping with the enemy. "They are enemies of the country. And, they are enemies
of the parties themselves. The best thing is, avoid them and shun them, even if
you lose an election. That price is worth paying. It is better than sleeping with
the enemy," Dua said. He reminded the House how many people have been warning
the parties against criminals. Even the Supreme Court made a suggestion to the
Election Commission that it should take steps to prevent nomination of criminals.
Dua justified banning criminal candidates from filing their nomination papers
when charges have been framed by a court, was the right thing to do. "The police
can frame false charges. But, if a court frames charges, then it is the time that
nomination paper should not be allowed to be filed by a person who has a criminal
record, particularly if the offences can fetch a two-year sentence," he said.
Dua hoped that Union Minister for Law and Justice could find out a way out for
such a step: " I am sure, Mr Moily's legal acumen and advice of this officials
can find a way out and provide a safeguard against the framing of charges which
are mala fide." He said there should be an attempt by political parties to ban
criminals at entry stage itself. There should be a serious attempt to ensure -
where the charges are framed by a court law - to ban the entry of criminals into
the election system by filing a nomination paper and getting elected. "Not doing
at this stage will prove costly for the country and the political system. This
problem is growing like cancer, because with every election - various NGOs have
collected this information and the Election Commission does not deny those figures
- the number of candidates fighting the elections is growing, and not going down.
Some of the parties are able to deny the tickets to criminals, but others are
not able to deny them the tickets," said Dua. "But, in totality, their number
is growing. If they capture the political system, what will be the fate of India's
democracy?," Dua asked in his concluding remarks. |
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