Queue for voting in Madhya Pradesh
The list of charges against politician
Kameshwar Baitha is long and startling: 16 counts of murder, 25 of attempted murder, six of assault with a dangerous weapon, three of extortion... and so on.
In many countries, such severe criminal allegations would be catastrophic to a politician's chances of winning a seat in the nation's parliament.
But Baitha says the 109 charges, wracked up during his time as a Maoist insurgent in his home state of Jharkhand, will not dent his chances at the ballot box as he seeks re-election in the mammoth elections underway in India. (
In Jharkhand's Palamau, former Maoist insurgent vs ex-top cop)
"The kind of work I've done, and particularly my focus on the weakest social groups in my constituency, is what makes me popular," Baitha told news agency AFP, dismissing the charges as false.
Fighting corruption and cleaning up Indian politics are major issues at this election, particularly for middle-class and urban voters. The five-week voting process ends on May 12 with results due four days later.
Almost a fifth of candidates standing for the 543-seat parliament face criminal charges, according to an analysis by the Association for Democratic Reform, a Delhi-based think-tank.(
Details of candidates |
Election Schedule)
Traditionally, voters have not been troubled by criminal charges in a country where millions still vote strictly along caste and regional lines.
They also often believe false allegations are levelled by political opponents.
"There is a lot of truth to this. Some of the charges are politically motivated and trumped up," said Satish Misra, an analyst with the Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation.
"But there are also a lot of serious criminals in politics," said Misra, who has analysed elections in India for three decades.
Even when pressure grows on politicians to quit over allegations, they can often find a way around it.
Lalu Prasad Yadav simply installed his wife as chief minister of Bihar when he was forced to step down in 1997 over long-running corruption charges.
Between the two of them, the couple ruled the state uninterrupted from 1990 to 2005 and Lalu went on to be a member of the national parliament and union Railways Minister.
Under new rules set by the Supreme Court, he was stripped of his parliamentary seat last September after being convicted over a scam involving the misuse of funds for animal fodder in the 1990s. (
Also read: Lalu's conviction set to change political math, can RJD recover?)
The new rules make it illegal for politicians found guilty of serious crimes to stay in office, although convictions can take decades.
The electorate, however, is now demanding a clean-up of politics with momentum growing at least in part because of
Arvind Kejriwal, whose Aam Aadmi Party has placed a war against corruption at the top of its agenda. (
Watch: What's Your Solution - Tackling Corruption)
The party made a stunning debut at state polls in Delhi late last year, and Mr Kejriwal's
message has forced the scandal-plagued Congress party, in power since 2004, and the BJP to take up the pledge of cleaner government.
Baitha, a candidate for a regional party who has told media he was only an ideological not a militant leader of a banned insurgent group, seems unphased by the shifting mood.
Voters would continue to dismiss the charges as false and irrelevant, he said.
"Poverty and development are the key issues for me and my people."