The curious case of Maharashtra Cabinet and amendments in the CrPC

In a recent development, the Maharashtra cabinet has amended a provision of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) to prevent filing of an FIR against a ‘public representative’ without the sanction of a ‘competent authority’. The competent authority can be identified as the speaker of the assembly in case of MLAs, and Chief Secretary in case of bureaucrats. The amendment is also applicable to elected representatives of panchayats and municipalities.

This becomes pretty interesting as Maharashtra has alarming high numbers of elected representatives with declared criminal cases. According to analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), of affidavits submitted by MLAs from Maharashtra at the time of election in 2014, 165 (57%) of the MLAs had declared criminal cases. Out of these 51 (31%) MLAs had declared cases where charges had been framed. Among all legislative assemblies in India, Maharashtra is second highest after Jharkhand in the proportion of MLAs with criminal cases. 3 MLAs had declared cases related to murder and attempt to murder while 11 MLAs declared cases related to crimes against women, 3 MLAs declared cases related to causing communal disharmony, 14 MLAs with cases of robbery and dacoity and 9 MLAs with cases related to kidnapping.

According to the latest report by ADR, even in the recent local body elections in Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra, out of 105 winners analysed, 17 had declared criminal cases out of which 13 had declared serious criminal cases. In the Vasai Virar City Municipal elections, 17 (17%) out of 102 winners declared criminal cases wherein 12 had serious cases. While this amendment to the CrPC is not applicable to Members of Parliament, it is important to note that criminality even among MPs of Maharashtra is alarmingly high, wherein 31 (65%) out of 48 MPs have criminal cases.

Professor Jagdeep Chhokar, founding member of the Association for Democratic Reforms has condemned the amendment and said, “This decision of the Maharashtra cabinet goes directly against Article 14 of the Constitution of India which guarantees ‘equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws’ to “any person within the territory of India.’ This decision obviously gives ‘greater protection’ to MLAs and bureaucrats, and therefore makes them ‘more equal’ than ordinary citizens.”

ADR has written to the Maharashtra Cabinet and urged it to repeal the amendment to CrPC.

This entire episode makes one wonder if the political class is working to save the elected representatives with a criminal background. Getting sanction from the ‘competent authority’ will certainly be a herculean task for any ordinary citizen. The amendment takes the process of justice one step backwards and elongates the overall process. A collective decision of a state cabinet, where BJP is in the power, makes one wonder the vision behind it. An unconstitutional amendment by the ruling BJP government is not only sad but a threat to people who dare to stand against the political class. When a government is out there to save the criminals, what can the public really expect?

We hope the Maharashtra cabinet understands the seriousness of the matter and repeals the unconstitutional amendment.

This article was first published by LokMarg.com on June 22, 2015

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How BJP raised less and spent more in Delhi elections 2013?

In 2013 Delhi went to polls. Arvind Kejriwal was elected the Chief Minister, though the government lasted only for 49 days. But there are few facts which have come to public notice now after the political parties have submitted the details of fund collected and expenditure incurred during the election period to the Election Commission of India.

According to a report released by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), an electoral and political reforms organisation, a total fund of Rs 2272.91 Lakh (Rs 22.7 Crores) was collected by all the political parties contesting the Delhi elections in 2013. Out of this, the new player Aam Aadmi Party had collected Rs 20.75 Crores. On the other hand BJP, as declared, had collected only Rs 27.7 Lakhs!

According to the report, total expenditure incurred by all the political parties was Rs 1501.71 Lakhs (Rs 15 Crores). Out of this, AAP had spent Rs 9.05 Crores, where as BJP spent Rs 3.15 Crores!

Here is the twist: BJP had collected Rs 22.7 Crores, but was able to spend Rs 3.15 Crores.

As per the report, AAP alone collected 91% of the entire funds during the Delhi elections 2013. BJP collected only 1.22% of the total fund. Juxtaposing this, AAP spent 60% of all the expenditure incurred by all the political parties. BJP spent 20.99%.

It was Congress which was in power before the elections. It collected Rs 80.06 lakhs, and spent Rs 1.72 Crores. BJP’s ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) collected Rs 61.03 Lakhs, and spent Rs 49.11 lakhs. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has declared that it raised zero rupees, and spent Rs 57.97 lakhs!

It is worth knowing that political parties do not need to declare the source of income of money amounting to less than Rs 20,000.

The present scenario can be justified by the political parties given the complexities of funding, various rules, et cetera. But somebody who has witnessed the elections in Delhi, knows that something is missing from what the political giants have declared. BJP had advertised everywhere in Delhi. As per the report, BJP has declared that it spent only Rs 84.41 lakhs in media advertising! AAP has declared that it spent Rs 4.84 Crores.

It is certainly surprising that despite less advertising and spending so less money BJP was able to emerge as the single largest party in the assembly elections 2013.

It goes without saying that we need more transparency from our political parties. These declarations fail to make to the breaking news of the TV news channels and first page of the newspapers. They fail to make it to national debates. But these are the core issues where we need our politicians to respond.

Let us wait for more such declarations from our political parties for the recent elections- and see for ourselves if they share the truth.

This article was first published in LokMarg on April 25, 2015. 

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Why there is no place for voice of dissent in new age India?

And finally Yogendra Yadav, along with three other ‘rebel’ leaders of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), has been expelled from AAP. This was expected because he had acted against the party guidelines. Yogendra Yadav, one of the founders of the party, has said that he felt like being thrown out of his home. This brings us to the larger and serious question- is there a place for dissent in our democracy?

In last two years we have seen rise of two major politicians in India- one was Chief Minister of a state, and the other was a social activist. They both came to power in less than a year’s time. They both are running government from Delhi. I am talking about Prime Minister Modi, and Delhi’s Chief Minister Kejriwal.

While Modi has been called a dictator for a long time, there are new voices coming from within the AAP family, making insinuations that Kejriwal is a dictator as well. If the leaders at the highest positions of our times are termed as dictators, then are we really living in a democratic set up, or is it just an illusion in our times?

Personality driven politics

For a long time Indian politics has been personality driven. When Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the face of Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) in late 90s, the slogan that made him India’s Prime Minister was ‘Ab ki Baari, Atal Bihari’ (This time Atal Bihari). In 2014 BJP almost copied the slogan with ‘Ab ki Baar, Modi sarkaar’ (This time Modi’s government). At the same lines, Aam Aadmi Party ran the entire campaign with the slogan ‘Paanch Saal Kejriwaal’ (Kejriwal for five years). Not to forget, years back Indira Gandhi gave the slogan ‘Indira is India, India is Indira’. In 2014, Congress chose a rather inclusive slogan- ‘Sabka Sath Sabka Vikash, Chalo Chalein Congress ke Sath’ (For everybody’s development, let us choose Congress). But it failed miserably. In 2003 BJP chose a slogan around ‘India Shining’, and it failed as well. It is evident that we have a long history of personality driven politics rather than that driven by ideas.

Problem with creation of Personality in Indian politics

Ironically, we are not just voting for the person around whom the campaign is created. One may be a supporter of Modi, but he/she votes for a candidate in his/her constituency. It is due to such blind campaigns that the present Parliament has the highest number of parliamentarians with pending criminal cases, according to electoral and political reforms organisation Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). ADR has also been appealing for a long time that one should make an informed choice and not be influenced by big names in the election.

Dissent and Indian Politics

In a political realm that runs totally around personalities, it is difficult to go against that personality. No member of the Congress party can go against the Gandhi family, No one in BJP can go against Modi. And no one in AAP can question Kejriwal! Interestingly all these political fronts are essentially claiming to reform Indian democracy- even when inner party democracy is totally missing. The larger question remains unanswered- do we have a single party which can be termed ‘democratic’ in real sense?

Yogendra Yadav, along with Prashant Bhushan and Anand Kumar, has started another campaign called ‘Swaraj Abhiyaan’. Will he form another political party? Only time will tell. But how many more political parties do we need to get one final truly democratic institution- where there is a place for dissent and discussion as well?

Dissent is key to democracy. Voltaire said something very important years back. ‘I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it’. Seems our politicians have not read Voltaire.

We need Voltaire for our times. We need dissent and discussion for Indian democracy to survive.

This article was first published in LokMarg on April 23, 2015. 

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Delhi Battle: The Hopes of Aam Aadmi versus the Wave of Fake Optimism

When I was a student of Journalism at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Yogendra Yadav came to give a lecture titled “In Defence of Politics”. He came as a guest lecturer. That was the only time he came to IIMC during the time I was a student there. That lecture was around what politics means in day to day life, and how we all are part of the larger politics. I was mesmerised by his eloquence and delivery of speech. He delivered his lecture and then told us that there is something very important in the afternoon, and he has to rush to attend the meeting. I was not aware he was talking about launch of a political revolution in India. It was the very same day when AAP was launched- November 26, 2012.

A common man who is an 

AAP supporter. Photo: Nihal

Aam Aadmi Party came to Indian Politics with lot of hopes. For the first time many people saw academicians, intellectuals and people who have been part of social movements for a long time taking the role of politicians- a tribe which common Indians try to avoid interacting with. Its biggest contribution was that it reconnected people with politics, which lately traditional political parties had failed to do. AAP gave voice to a common man.

The political fight which AAP has given is most fascinating any political party could see in such a small time. The high point was when Arvind Kejriwal defeated Sheila Dixit at New Delhi constituency, and AAP formed government in Delhi. We all know the story- The rise and fall of AAP.

When AAP came to power there was a strong anti-Congress wave all across the nation. The wave continued till Lok Sabha elections, when the nation gave full majority to BJP led NDA government, or to be precise, to Narendra Modi. Since then things have slowed down. The anti-incumbency wave has slowed down. It will be wrong to assume that things have changed since then. Corruption is rampant, inflation remains an issue, and there is no way we can say BJP has done something significantly different. India had always seen a GDP growth rate of around 6% to 9%. But it never meant poverty was irradiated, or other issues were dealt with. There is an ‘optimism’ in the country. Only time will tell if the optimism is fake or not. According to P. Sainath, prominent journalist of our times, it is fake.

But this ‘fake optimism’ means AAP stands a very narrow chance of coming to power in Delhi. We cannot deny the fact that even when there was a wave in support of AAP, it did not receive full majority. Now that wave is also absent. The young urban India which AAP connected with politics has got its own demigod in form of NaMo.

The performance of BJP in various states which went to polls, since it came into power at centre ,has been impressive. It formed government in Maharashtra, Jharkahnd, Haryana and was the second largest party in Jammu and Kashmir. These performances were also result of the fact that BJP fought all the elections with Narendra Modi as the face. It is replicating the same strategy in Delhi once again. The various hoardings in Delhi metro and bill board across the city-state of Delhi are once again painted with NaMo. BJP knows that showing Modi once again as the face of the party will fetch it the required votes, so it is not naming its Chief Minister candidate. The battle once again has become Modi versus Kejriwal, as Congress once again is out of the race.

File photo of AAP supporters campaigning in
Connaught Place Delhi. Photo: Nihal

The only reason why AAP can come back to power is if the middle class voters, which helped AAP come to power in 2013, realises that BJP essentially doesn’t have any face in the elections. A Prime Minister will have many more important issues to deal with. Modi cannot be the face for Chief Minister of Delhi. The lower class vote pretty much lies with Kejriwal. The lower class vote, which was earlier the vote base of Congress, wants to see the 49 days of AAP government when it did not have to deal with corruption on a day to day basis. The political battle has just started. AAP and BJP have kickstarted their campaigning. To say that BJP will win the elections, will be too simple an assessment of Indian politics.

Let us hope Delhi gets the government it deserves.

This article was first published in LokMarg on January 12, 2015

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The Curious Case Of Ticket Offerings: Of BJP, Kiran Bedi And The Election Ticket

If you have still not noticed then let me repeat it for you: Kiran Bedi has been offered a ticket by BJP to fight against Sheila Dixit in the upcoming elections. This also implies that she has been offered a ticket against Arvind Kejriwal as well, as Kejriwal has well announced that he will fight against Sheila Dixit in the Delhi elections. This is a very complex situation, and needs a critical analysis. To make things clear, Kiran Bedi has not accepted the offer made by BJP.

Kiran Bedi has been hailed as a BJP supporter. She is known for all the good as well as a few bad things. She is known as an authoritarian and somebody who believes in the proper usage of power- we guess that was the reason why she has been approached by BJP. She was also a core member of the team Anna, where she used to work closely with Arvind Kejriwal. But later both of them developed few disputes and Kejriwal’s forming the political party distanced them more. Now, we are not aware of what she actually thinks about Kejriwal, but it is clear that political parties want to capitalize on the disputes among the anti-political establishment movement and uprising which took place in the country sometime back.

If, however, Bedi would have accepted the offer then it would have only tarnished the social stature she enjoys in the society. Our society has a very complex behaviour. It respects only those who maintain distance from politics but talk about political reforms. This is an oxymoron though, but people of this country don’t believe in the idea of oxymoron and consider the conflicting ideas as rational. There are people saying that Bedi understands this and knows that even if she defeats Dixit or Kejriwal, she will only be acting as a pawn in the hands of BJP, who will present her as an anti-corruption face capitalizing on her Anna association. Later, she will be treated only as a mere MLA who will have no say in the larger political scenario.

Few reports suggest that Bedi may accept the offer if BJP presents her as the Chief Ministerial candidate from the party, which is less likely given the dispute among the Delhi BJP members and the uncertainty the party sees in the present leadership.

We do not know the future of BJP or of Kiran Bedi, but certainly this report comes as a part of more complex behaviours we will see in the coming days!

This article first appeared in Youth Ki Awaaz on August 18, 2013.

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