Cameron compares British politics with India

David Cameron, in a key-note speech today on cutting the cost of politics, compared India’s Electoral Commission with that of Britain’s, impyling that it was 20-times better value.

A detailed look at the levels of corruption in each country, however, might lead one to a different conclusion.

A ballot box In the Indian elections in June this year:

150 of the 541 MPs elected were facing criminal charges

17 have been charged with murder

19 have been charged with attempted murder

Three MPs face multiple charges of murder

One of these, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury – MP for Baharampur, West Bengal – faces three counts of murder, as well as charges of voluntarily causing hurt, wrongful restraint, criminal trespass and criminal intimidation

Various other MPs have been charged with slave trading, child prostitution, domestic violence, forgery, rioting, arson, harbouring an offender, extortion, obscene acts and bribery.

And of the 64 candidates standing in by-elections this month, 15 have charges of murder and attempted murder hanging over them.

Ben WP

I suspect someone in CCHQ will now be thinking that their cute line about Indian politics was now not so cute….
http://www.newsjacker.co.uk/politics/worth-a-look-%e2%80%93-six-political-articles-we-like-2/ Worth a look – six political articles we like

[...] Shamik Das at the new Left Foot Forward website says that David Cameron should think twice before arguing, as he did yesterday, that the Electoral Commission should learn from its Indian counterpart. [...]