Criminal charges don’t deter politicians in India

By Biswajeet Banerjee

Published May 6, 2014 9:07am ET

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Criminal charges don’t deter politicians in India — FILE - In this July 21, 2008 file photo, Indian lawmaker Atiq Ahmed, then serving jail sentence, arrives at the parliament house in New Delhi, India. Of the dozens of criminal charges Ahmed faces, the one blaming him for the murder of a political rival tops the list. But that isn't stopping the state lawmaker from running for a seat in India's Parliament. Across India, more than 1,200 candidates in the running for 545 seats in the national election face criminal charges including rape, kidnapping, extortion and murder, according to a tally by the Association for Democratic Reform. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File) | Manish Swarup

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Of the dozens of criminal charges Atiq Ahmed faces, the one blaming him for the murder of a political rival tops the list. But that isn’t stopping the state lawmaker from running for a seat in India’s Parliament.

More than 1,200 candidates running for 545 seats in the national election face criminal charges including rape, kidnapping, extortion and murder, according to a tally by the Association for Democratic Reform.

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