Why criminals get elected?

The criminal background of a candidate apparently is not a deterrent for voters in Gujarat. The survey carried out among voters in 26 constituencies of Gujarat to ascertain why people vote for candidates with criminal backgrounds found that a variety of factors influence the choice.

Primary among them was the perception that the criminal cases against such candidates were not of serious nature. 79.66 per cent believed that people voted for criminal candidates for this reason. Caste and religion was the second most influential factor (72.68%) responsible for why criminal candidates got elected.

People's perception that the candidates despite their criminal background gets good work done (70.21%) ranked third.

Maj Gen Anil Verma of National Election Watch said this contradicted with the other aspect of the survey where 73 per cent of respondents believed that people should not vote for seriously tainted candidates.