Backdoor entry into parliament or Legislative Assembly is a common feature in India. When a person is punished by a Court he loses his eligibility to continue in office or to contest in an election. There have been several cases in the past of this nature. The latest one is that of Sanjay Dutt.
Sanjay Dutt has been sentenced to six years in jail by a Mumbai anti-terror court hearing the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai.
As per electoral laws, a person convicted for a criminal offence and sentenced to jail for more than two years is barred from running for elections.
Recently the Supreme Court refused to grant permission for Sanjay Dutt to contest the ensuing Lok Sabha elections.
It has become the practice of political parties to use actors to draw huge crowd. We have seen several states where actors have become Chief Ministers. MGR and Jayalalitha in Tamil Nadu, NTR in Andhra Pradesh are some examples of actors becoming Chief Ministers.
Eventhough the highest Court of the country has slapped a ban on Sanjay Dutt to contest elections, unfortunately he has not been banned to canvass for other candidates. It is quite possible that a person who is ineligible to contest appoints his close friend or relative to contest and he canvasses for him. With his popularity there is a good chance of that candidate winning the election. Such persons use their money power and goondaism to win elections and boasts of several MPs in their pocket. Is this good for our country ? One should give a serious thought to this.
When convicts enter the election arena one can imagine the catastrophe to the democracy. If we really want to stop the criminalisation in politics, we should not only stop persons with criminal background from contesting elections but also stop them from canvassing. The party using such persons for canvassing shall be disqualified from contesting election in that constituency where the convict has canvassed. Alternatively the candidate may be disqualified for allowing such person to canvass on his behalf. Then only traces of criminalisation can be completely erased during electioneering and during elections. Election Commission has sky high powers and it is hoped that the Commission considers this suggestion for the welfare of our country.
Let us not allow criminals and convicts to become heros.
This is our sincere request and suggestion to the Election Commission of India. Jai hind.
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