While courts tend not to punish politicians accused of communal crimes, voters reward them for it.
Image: Courtesy Hindustan Times
Electoral candidates who have been accused of communal offences win more often than candidates free of such charges. Candidates charged with non-communal crimes too stand a better chance of winning than the ones without blame. But those with communal offences have better prospects than those charged with non-communal crimes.
These are the disturbing findings of an analysis of political aspirants to the Lok Sabha or state assemblies conducted by the Hindustan Times. Mercifully, the number of candidates with criminal charges fielded by the various political parties is a small percentage of total candidates fielded by them. The analysis is based on a study of more than 50,000 candidates who contested elections in the past five years.
Of the 41,488 candidates who had no charges against them, 2,550 were successful, giving a success rate of 6%. In comparison, of the 8,649 candidates with non-communal criminal offences against them, 1,201 were successful: strike rate 14%. Meanwhile, of the 187 candidates charged with communal offences, 53 won: strike rate 28%. In short, communal-majoritarianism pays political dividends.
From among the high-profile political leaders, those with communal offences registered against them include Union cabinet minister, Uma Bharti, UP chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, his deputy CM, Keshav Prasad Maurya and the Owaisi brothers from the All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).
Expectedly, the largest number of candidates with communal cases against them was fielded by the BJP: 48 out of 3,727 candidates (1.3% of total). In comparison, of the 3,553 candidates nominated by the Congress only 12 had been booked for communal offences.
The Hindustan Times’ analysis showed that only one political candidate had been convicted while the other cases remain pending.
Read the full Hindustan Times report.