The Criminal-Politician Nexus: A Deep-Rooted Threat to Internal Security :

Dhananjay Munde of BJP cabinet in the Maharashtra government, did resign – on the fourth of March claiming ‘moral’ reason. Munde’s resignation corresponds with his aide Walmik Karad's alleged involvement in the horrific murder of the local Sarpanch in Beed district which happened in the December of last year.

The interval, starting from December through to early March paints a picture of poor governance and brings to light the intricate, stubborn, and damaging politics intertwined with crime that is hurting India’s national integrity and security.

While Munde is a member from Ajit Pawar’s faction of NCP, this tells a lot of how complicated and fractious coalition politics of Maharashtra is, which was ruled by the BJP led Mahayuti government from December of 5, when the sarpanch Santosh Deshmuk was killed on the 9th. This murder, that sparred multiple castes was triggered by the expose of an extortion ring by the sarpanch which made it violent and terrible.

Evidence is mounting of lawmakers having criminal cases filed against them.

According to a report prepared by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Maharashtra Election Watch, of the 42 ministers in the Maharashtra cabinet surveyed, over half, that is 26 or 62 percent of ministers, have self-declared criminal cases. Moreover, 17 ministers, constituting 40 percent of the cabinet, have self-declared serious criminal cases.

This trend of elected representatives having criminal cases is present in the lower house of the parliament too, and ADR has noted with its remarkable claim to the detail that in 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, 251 MPs, which is 46 percent of the newly elected MPs, are reported to have criminal cases. This number is shocking. In combination with the lesser house is a lament India’s democracy. Strikingly, as per the ADR data, out of the 240 BJP MPs in 2024, 39 percent and 26 percent of them had serious criminal charges or, largely, self-declared criminal cases.

These narratives reference the increasing numbers of MPs within Lok Sabha who face prosecution. It was noted that there were 125 MPs in 2004, followed by 162 in 2009, 185 in 2014, and 251 in 2024 who had declared criminal cases against them. Investigations of the political crime and politician nexus has been ongoing but with little success and documentation to report. When the serial bomb blasts occurred in Mumbai in 1993, Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao became suspicious of the overlap between crime and politics. The Vohra Report that investigated the matter was never released to the public. A blend of powerful political elites and government officials has led to overwhelming extortion and crime syndicates which caused there to be a fall of trust in the public. Some of the most daunting thoughts that came were always left unanswered in the Vohra Report by the government officers which makes it classified information. The Modi, Singh, and Vajpayee governments chose to ignore the release of the Vohra document to the public which has caused the Indian state to suffer heavily ever since. Now it remains a contaminated piece of history.

This was captured by Mr. Vohra during the 2020 Sir Syed’s memorial lecture at Aligarh Muslim University when he stated that “and well known criminals receiving protection and support from powerful figures of the ruling class is ‘a criminal nexus’ between polity, corrupt public servants and mafia which has been operating for a long time.” It’s telling how much the ecosystem has changed due to money acquired and funded through illegal means, bribing, and patronage of elected representatives for shelter to criminals who have now turned into money bags. Mr Vohra went on to explain “a robust ecosystem” was built and claimed how elections, voted, and even recruited criminals donning the mask of politicians with notorious capabilities.

I assume that I don’t need to explain how I could certainly see Munde’s resignation fitting perfectly to this elaborate interwoven criminal conspiracy. It was Munde, the sarpanch Deshmukh, who revealed the criminals and for paying that price, lost his life. After 1993, the report was assumed to be subject to the ‘Vohra Committee Report’ after its author with no matter of fact declaration distinguishing the actions taken to uncover its findings. However, in reality, roughly three decades have passed under such a criminal underworld which has drastically altered. The violence and control over large portions of the country became even more severe.

Previously, a journalist in Chhattisgarh named Mukesh Chandrakar, who blew the lid off a Rs 120 crores scam, was killed in January due to the very nexus he was a part of, and the worst part is, India has still no place for whistle blowers. \n\nFor Indian investigative and judicial procedures which are packed with red tape, the chances of catching and penalizing the killers of sarpanch Deshmukh are none. Let us take a leap of faith and believe that CM Fadnavis will attempt to clean Maharashtra politics instead of compensating by acting immature, and raise the bar to a reasonable level of political ethics. \n\nAt this point, we require an absurd level of political willpower, as well as unquestionable integrity within the executive, police, and judicial authorities, to control this vile system at the center of it all, which, unfortunately, does not seem to be the case. Without changing this reality, rest assured that India is destined to endure further internal conflict, damage, and loss.