Notorious criminals have become a means of collecting votes for political parties

Political parties have been using gangsters, mafia and dacoits to get vote bank. The same happened in the case of other accused including Monu Manesar, the main accused in the brutal murder of the accused of cow smuggling. Many videos of Monu Manesar went viral on social media. In which he is seen displaying weapons. Apart from this, photos with its leaders are also available on social media. The mahapanchayat took a decision to ensure that Monu is not arrested. In Bhiwani’s Loharu, burnt bodies of two people were found inside a Bolero. Suspicion was expressed of both of them being cow smugglers. A mahapanchayat was organized in Bhiwani in support of Monu and in this mahapanchayat, the Rajasthan Police was threatened not to even step into the village. It said that if the police take any kind of action against Monu Manesar, then the police will not be able to get back on their feet. In the Mahapanchayat, Monu Manesar was described as a well wisher of Hindus.

The police of Haryana and Rajasthan came face to face on this issue. There are governments of different parties in both the states. It is election year in Rajasthan. In such a situation, it is the effort of both the governments to strengthen the regional and caste vote bank by blaming each other in the case of the dead and their accused. Notorious criminals have an old history of resorting to caste-sect and region-specific. Political parties have been taking advantage of this for vote bank. Castes and sects have given shelter to gangsters, mafias and even dacoits of Chambal. Whether the dacoits were from Chambal or the criminals living in the cities, all of them have used their respective castes, sects and regionalism as a shield for their defence.

In the glorification of this method, criminals have been adopting liberal methods to maintain the image of Robin Hood in their caste or community. Phoolan Devi, a dasyu beauty, had created such an image in her caste after carrying out a mass murder to avenge the excesses meted out to her. Not only this, Phoolan Devi also got political benefit from it. He contested the Lok Sabha elections on a Samajwadi Party ticket and even won. Phoolan also had to pay the price of making crimes caste based. Phoolan Devi was killed due to enmity with another caste.

Mafia, gangsters and dacoits of Chambal have also made political parties pawns. Such notorious criminals have a long history not only of crime but also of politics. In the guise of which legal action could not be taken against them. Criminals like Lawrence Vishnoi, Anand Pal, Monu Manesar, Mukhtar Ansari and Lovely Anand have tried to glorify the black exploits of crimes by resorting to caste. Such criminals try to build their Robin Hood image. Apart from caste, if communal color is also found in it, then the criminal gets a strong support to escape. For political parties, such criminals work to garner votes and polarize votes on communal lines. The basis of a criminal taking caste shelter is limited to his caste only, while after the crime, dividing on communal basis also opens the way for the criminal to become a politician.

It is easier to carry out communal incidents wearing the garb of politics. The notorious mafia in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have been escaping punishment for crimes under the guise of political shield for a long time. However, now the condition of both the states is improving. The Yogi government of BJP in Uttar Pradesh has left no stone unturned in sending Mukhtar Ansar and other mafia and gangsters behind bars. Not only this, the property of such criminals was attached and the encroachment demolished, so that other criminals could also learn a lesson from it. The same was done with the mafias in Bihar. Mafias were made to realize very well that it is not easy to cover up crimes under the guise of caste, religion and region.

Despite this, political parties are not lagging behind in cashing in on the image of such infamous criminals. In the case of Mukhtar Ansari, AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi has been trying to woo the minority vote bank by accusing the Yogi government of taking action on communal lines. In the case of such dreaded criminals, the condition of the police is like a puppet. The police work under the state governments. Police action cannot happen without the intention of the state government. Uttar Pradesh is a great example of this. The police of Uttar Pradesh killed many notorious gangsters and mafia. Not only this, the police established their confession in such a way that some miscreants even refused to be released from jail on bail lest the police encounter them. This courage came in the police because of the strong will power of the government. The same police could not do anything when Samajwadi and Bahujan Samajwadi Party were in power. It is evident from this that until the police does not get complete autonomy to take action against the criminals, then the police will not be able to create fear of their uniform among the criminals.

– Yogendra Yogi