India's Independence portrays a mixed feeling of achievement & dismay.^[1] Achievement because of uninterrupted elections every five years and thus a smooth transfer of power (except a brief spell of emergency) but on the other hand corruption is rampant & criminalization of elections and politicization of crime has put in jeopardy the impeachable reputation of electoral reforms. A nation wedded to democracy where elections are primary for the governance of the nation but growth and multiplicity of criminal gangs, drug mafia & criminal lobbies has eroded the government functionaries at every level. Criminal elements have acquired political status seriously jeopardizing the functioning of administration and corrupted the government machinery at all level, wielding financial and muscle power. Majority of our representatives are elected by minority of votes cast thereby making their representative credentials doubtful. The result is that the legitimacy of our electoral process becomes grave. The political parties prefer criminals as candidates as elections are increasingly undermined by rigging, booth capturing so man with muscle power has a fair chance of winning than a clean, decent candidate without such capabilities. The increased presence of criminals in the representative institutions proves the fact. The technical and natural justice aspect cannot be ignored that no one can be called a criminal till proved by a court of law. Moreover, they have been elected by the people so what if they are criminals.

Keywords: Criminalization, Criminal Lobbies, Criminal Gangs, Drug Mafia.