Indian election reveals role of money, questionable morality

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Indian election reveals role of money, questionable morality

2019-06-16 09:35 Last Updated At：09:40

India's recent national election delivered a historic victory to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party, but also exposed the influence of money, power and questionable morality on the world's largest democracy.

Nearly 43% of the new members of the lower house of Parliament that convenes Monday for the first time since the election won despite facing criminal charges. More than a quarter of those relate to rape, murder or attempted murder, according to a report by the civic group Association of Democratic Reforms.

The loophole that allows them to take office is that they have not been convicted — in part because the Indian legal system has a huge backlog of an estimated 30 million cases and trials often last decades. When asked about the charges against them, they invariably accuse a political rival of framing them.

Since such rivalries often lead to false accusations, the main political parties say it would be unfair to bar people from contesting elections unless they have been convicted by court.

Under existing laws, only those who have been sentenced to prison for two years or more can be barred from elections.

Members of Parliament with criminal backgrounds is not a new phenomenon in India, but despite Modi's campaign vow in 2014 to clean up corruption and the influence of money in politics, the problem appears to be only growing worse.

In the 2004 national election, the percentage of candidates with pending criminal cases was 24%, which rose to 33% in 2009, 34% in 2014 and 43% this year, said Shahabuddin Y. Quraishi, a former chief election commissioner.

The Association of Democratic Reforms found that 116 of the 303 lawmakers from Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party elected last month face criminal charges, including one for alleged terrorism.

Pragya Singh Thakur, who won a seat from Bhopal in central India, is awaiting trial in connection with a 2008 explosion in Malegaon in western India that killed seven people.

Twenty-nine of the opposition Congress party's 52 lawmakers face serious charges.

"This trend has been growing in India, leaving no political party untouched. We need to educate voters not to elect these people," said Jagdeep S. Chhokar, ADR's founder.

"What the Indian state has been unable to provide, strongmen promise to deliver to people in their area of influence, using gun and money power," said Lennin Rasghuvanshi, a coordinator with the People's Union for Civil Liberties.

Starting in the 1960s and '70s, some Indian politicians began turning to the criminal underworld for cash to win votes.

"In due course, the criminals started thinking that these politicians were winning because of their money or crimes so why shouldn't they become lawmakers themselves? If they are people running from the police, they know that when they became lawmakers, the same police will protect them," Quraishi said.

In Uttar Pradesh state in northern Indian, former mafia don Mukhtar Ansari has been elected to the state assembly five times despite more than 40 criminal cases pending against him, including murder.

Another don-turned-politician, Hari Shankar Tiwari, also of Uttar Pradesh, has been a member of the legislative assembly for 23 years, even winning an election while being detained on murder charges.

During the campaign, Election Commission officials and government agencies seized mountains of cash, alcohol, gold and silver, saris and expensive watches in the offices of political parties that were intended as gifts in exchange for votes.

The total value of the seized goods was $500 million, including $120 million in cash — nearly three times what was found in the 2014 general election, according to the Election Commission.

Analysts say that political parties seem to prize electability over ethics.

"They think that people with criminal backgrounds have more chances to win because of their money and muscle power," Qureshi said.

In the days of paper ballots before electronic voting machines were introduced, gangs would use brute force to take over polling stations to rig the vote.

One reason for the increasing number of criminal suspects going into politics is the sheer cost of elections. In the general election that concluded in May, political parties and candidates are estimated to have spent about $8.65 billion. That's double the amount in the 2014 election, according to a report by the Center for Media Studies in New Delhi.

The report said the Bharatiya Janata Party was the biggest spender, accounting for about 45% of the total. The Congress party accounted for between 15% and 20%.

Analysts say a key cause of corruption is the way political parties are funded in India. Parties are permitted to receive foreign funds, any company can donate any amount of money to any political party, and any individual, group or company can donate money anonymously through electoral bonds.

Donors do not need to disclose the party they have donated to, nor does the party have to reveal the source of its money.

Quraishi is calling for more transparency in campaign funding as well as a cap on election spending.

"The people want transparency, the donor wants secrecy. Whose wish should prevail?" he said.

Athletics express sadness, some relief at moving out of Oakland at the end of the season

2024-04-06 01:24 Last Updated At：01:30

DETROIT (AP) — The Oakland Athletics no longer have to wonder where they'll play the next few seasons. That won't make the long goodbye any easier.

The A's reacted to the announcement that this will be their last year in Oakland with a mixture of sadness and relief.

“At least as a player, you know where you’re headed,” outfielder Seth Brown said Friday before a game against the Tigers in Detroit. “There’s obviously a lot of moving parts, a lot of stuff we’re not privy to, so it’s just been kind of a waiting game on our end. Where are we going to go? Where are we going to be? So I think just having that knowledge -- at least we know where we’re going to be playing next year.”

Vivek Ranadivé, who owns the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, and Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher announced Thursday that the A’s will temporarily relocate to West Sacramento's Sutter Health Park for at least three seasons. The A's are moving to Las Vegas after a new ballpark is constructed.

The River Cats, who are affiliated with the San Francisco Giants, will continue to play at the same facility.

Fisher was unable to reach an agreement with Oakland city officials on extending the lease at Oakland Coliseum, which expires at the end of this season. The A's have played in the city since 1968.

“There's direction now, which we've talked a lot about,” Oakland A's manager Mark Kotsay said. “We've got time to kind of reflect on what this really means from an organizational standpoint, the history that we've had in Oakland, with this being now the final season. There's a lot of emotion that goes behind this.”

It will not only cause some upheaval for the players and staff but also members of the organization that work behind the scenes.

“At the end of the day, we know where we're going to be for the next three seasons after the finish this year and that in itself gives a little bit of stability,” Kotsay said. “At the same time, in the present, it's challenging in certain ways to think about the finality of this organization in Oakland.”

Sacramento will be a much smaller environment to house a major league team. Ranadivé said the River Cats venue currently seats 16,000 when counting the stands, the lawn behind center field and standing room only.

First baseman Ryan Noda is concerned with the facilities. He's hopeful that significant upgrades will be made, much like the Toronto Blue Jays did at Buffalo's Triple-A facility. The Blue Jays played at Buffalo's Sahlen Field in 2020 in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“New walls, new dugouts, new locker rooms — everything they needed to become a big league stadium,” said Noda, who played some games in Sacramento as a minor leaguer. “As long as we can do something like that, then it'll be all right. But it's definitely going to be different than playing in stadiums that hold 40,000 people.”

Kotsay is confident the upgrades will occur.

“I know it will be of major league baseball quality,” he said. “It's has to be of major league baseball quality. I know the Players Association will make sure that takes place, as they did in Buffalo.”

For the rest of this season, the A's will have to deal with small home crowds and disappointed fans.

“We’re sad for the fans, the diehard fans, who always come to our games, always support us, always support the boys wearing the jersey,” Noda said.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Indian election reveals role of money, questionable morality

Indian election reveals role of money, questionable morality

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Athletics express sadness, some relief at moving out of Oakland at the end of the season