Criminalisation of politics is rampant in Indian democracy and it is the bane of the Indian politics.Especially, in the states of UP and Bihar, politicians with a criminal background become MLAs and there seems to be no solution to find a way out.
In the case of the state of UP, in a state Assembly that has nearly 40 % legislators with a criminal background, it is indeed not surprising to find more and more MLAs in UP jails than in the Vidhan Sabha.
The Mayavati government is 13 months old and an increasing number of legislators are making their way to behind the bars.
The ‘seniormost’ legislator in the jail is Amarmani Tripathi of the Samajwadi Party.Convicted for the murder of Poetess Madhumita Shukla, Tripathi contested and won the assembly elections in Laxmipur in Maharajganj district from jail in 2007.He was not convicted then.
Currently in Varanasi Central jail Tripathi attends the sessions of the state Assembly with the court’s permission but is rarely seen inside the Vidhan Sabha. He spends most of this valuable time interacting with senior politicians, ministers and of course his family members.
Mukthar Ansari, an independent legislator from Ghazipur, has been in Jail since October,2005 for his alleged involvement in the Mau riots and then in the murder of the BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai. Ansari runs his business and his gang from inside the jail and also supervised his election campaign from there.
He is active participant in the Assembly sessions where he raises issue concerning his personal security and his constituency.
Something needs to be done and immediate action should be taken to prevent the rapid criminalization of politics and thereby cleanse the stable and put the house in order.