Call it a mockery of democratism but voters in the western Indian state of Gujarat, which went to polls earlier this month, have suffered no qualms of conscience in turning law-breakers into law-makers instead of opting for honest-to-boot candidates at the hustings.

As many as 47 members (MLAs) of the new 182-strong legislative assembly in the Land of Mahatma Gandhi are as good as hooligans and hustlers facing criminal cases, and at least 33 of them have been charged with serious crimes like rape, murder, murder attempt and kidnapping.

Mahesh Vasava of the Bharatiya Tribal Party who rang the gong with a victory margin of 80,000-plus votes has hitherto been booked by the police for a record 24 times while the Congress, the National Congress Party and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also have one legislator each slapped with about a dozen dangerous charges.

What is worrying is not the fact that every fourth assemblyman – including three ministers sworn in on December 26 – is almost on the wrong side of the law but the bitter truth that the number of trespassers with grave charges has shot up from 24 in the House of 2012 to 33 in the new ‘hall of shame’.

A survey by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) revealed that the voters in Gujarat considered caste as the prime factor when they voted for a particular candidate what with 73 percent of respondents saying that they would vote even for a candidate with a criminal background if he or she belonged to their caste.

It was also found that candidates with criminal charges and deep pockets have a 13 percent chance of winning seats, as compared to a paltry 5 percent winning chance for candidates with a clean slate, and the success of suspicious candidates at the hustings has a chilling effect on individuals with clean records who might then think twice before joining the electoral fray.

Source: Alarabiya