In India, muscle and money can help you win elections

NEW DELHI: Money and muscle will help you get elected in India, and now, the Association of Democratic Rights (ADR) has the figures to prove it. The organisation has come up with data spread over 10 years which shows that not only do candidates and even members of Parliament and state legislatures who have criminal records have more financial assets than those without, but that in 16 out the 19 major political parties covered by the survey, a criminal offence against your name will significantly increase your chances of winning.

For example, in parties like the SP, a candidate with a clean record has an 18% chance of winning, his chances go up to 31% if he has a criminal record. In the BJP, the chances of being elected with a clean record is 28%, while with a criminal record, chances go up to 40%.

This correlation is best reflected in the analysis of criminal records of 4181 repeat candidates by ADR. It shows that 1072 of them had a criminal case the first they contested elections, and in 788 cases of 74% of the time, they managed to get a party ticket to recontest.

"This just shows that criminalisation and money power are a fact of Indian elections, and is operating in the full knowledge of political parties," said Trilochan Shastry, one of the founding members of ADR. "While the average assets of 62,847 candidates, stood at Rs 1.37 crore, those of MPs and MLAs stood at Rs 3.83 crore," he added.