Name of the delegate: Animesh Puneet Gupta

Institution Details: II Year, IV Semester; Army Institute of Law, Mohali, Sector 68, S.A.S.
Nagar, Punjab

Address and Email id: Army Institute of Law, Mohali, Sector 68, S.A.S. Nagar, Punjab;
animeshgupta1999@gmail.com

Title of the abstract: Decriminalization of Politics: Cleaning up the Elections

Abstract

Democracy is widely considered as the most efficient form of governance and the number of
countries to adopt democracy has grown exponentially over the past century. This is mainly
attributed to the fact that democracy promotes a government which is ‘by the people, of the
people and for the people’ as stated by Abraham Lincoln. India is one of the largest and most
populous countries in the world but also holds the distinction of being the world’s largest
democracy. The system of free and fair elections resonates as the basic tenet of democracy and
finds an important and impenetrable position in the election system of India.

But, considering the developments in the politics of India in the past half century, it is safe to
evaluate the system of elections and the candidature to have been heavily polluted and
criminalized. The use of strongmen, money, alcohol and other influencing agents has been one of
the focal points of elections across the country and have been an easy way for political parties to
garner votes and gain positions of power. Moreover, the practice of giving tickets to candidates
with criminal backgrounds is taken for granted by the political parties who not only fail to
comply with the laws but also lead to the corruption of the sanctity of the sacrosanct institutions
and systems institutionalized by the Constitution for the easy and fair governance of the ultimate
sovereign, i.e., the people or the electorate.

In this manuscript, the author has tried to evaluate the status quo in the election system of India
and while concentrating on the causes and consequences of criminalization of politics and
elections and providing certain suggestions in order to decriminalize politics and give back the
representation to the people.

Keywords: Decriminalization, Elections, Political Parties, Candidates, Constitution