Some of the euphoria over Nitish Kumar’s victory in Bihar will be dented by the revelation that 141 newly elected MLAs or 59 per cent of the total number have a criminal background. This is quite a jump from the 35 per cent who were elected five years ago. Of the 141, as many as 85 face serious charges such as murder and abduction. This, again, is higher than the earlier percentage of 68. Clearly, the improvement in the law and order situation because of the incarceration of anti-social elements bears no relation to the old malady of the criminalisation of politics. In fact, it can even be argued that while the lesser fry among people with a dubious record now find themselves behind bars, a more formidable group has walked into the exalted chambers of the legislature.
Since the winner takes all in the first-past-the-post system, it is not surprising that the Janata Dal (United) leads in the matter of harbouring tainted people in its ranks. There are discrepancies in the figures put out by two inquiring groups. The National Election Watch (NEW) and the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) claim that 58 or 51 per cent of the JD(U)’s MLAs have criminal cases pending against them, an increase from the 2005 figure of 45 per cent. The Bihar Election Watch (BEW), has put the number of those facing serious charges at 85 while the rest have minor charges against them. What this means is that not a single JD(U) legislator can be considered lily white.
The BJP, on its part, is no better. According to the NEW and ADR, 58 MLAs or 64 per cent of the total have criminal cases pending against them. The percentage was 58 in 2005. The BEW, however, gives the lower figure of 29 legislators. Evidently, these are preliminary estimates and may be revised, upwards or downwards, later. Even then, there is little doubt that politics today is no longer a profession of gentlemen, except for a few at the top. Otherwise, the field is crowded with what is known in the Hindi belt as bahubalis or musclemen, whose victories are seemingly based more on their reputation for intimidation and worse than on public service.
The roads might be safer in Bihar today and there were no instances of booth capturing. But that does not mean that crime has ceased to be a paying proposition.