We Wouldn't Hire Them. Why Do We Elect Them?

 We Wouldn't Hire Them. Why Do We Elect Them?

We elect a person thinking they will fix the system the previous regime messed up and ensure it is free from corruption. Unfortunately, what we witness instead is a blame game. When the elected government makes the same mistake, we hear the familiar refrain: "It also happened in the previous government." All we see today is a bunch of selfish people sitting in Parliament and the state assemblies—a few of them with criminal records.

As citizens, we should put the country at the centre and stop using our religious, caste, and atheistic biases when selecting people to represent our needs in Parliament and the state assemblies. Even when we know an MLA or MP has a criminal record or an FIR against them, we still vote for them because of our biases.

Here's the uncomfortable truth: I am sure we would never select a candidate with a criminal record to work for a company—yet we select people with criminal records to represent us. And this is no isolated case. According to the Association for Democratic Reforms, of the 543 members of the 18th Lok Sabha elected in 2024, 251—46%—have criminal cases against them, and 170 of those face serious charges like murder, rape, and kidnapping. Even more damning: candidates with criminal records have a win rate three times higher than those with clean records. When we would never give a job to a stranger with a criminal record, we collectively send 251 of them into the nation's highest lawmaking body. The problem is not the politician alone, but also the people who fail to select the right candidate. Our suffering stems from our biases: we have abandoned the nation and given importance to our dogmas and ideologies.

If such a mentality prevails, we will witness corruption, crimes, threats, and suppression by the very politicians we elected—and finally conclude that democracy does not work. Our inability to understand candidates' backgrounds and our unwillingness to stay unbiased make democracy fail, not its definition.

In the next election, check candidates' profiles and evaluate them before you vote. Our wrong vote takes five years to correct, but by then enough damage is done—and the elected representative will use their influence to come out of the cases and get a clean chit for the next election. The game will continue.

A nation doesn't fail because of a few thousand politicians who sit in Parliament or the state assembly. It fails when its citizens fail to select the right people.

M.L. Narendra Kumar