Location: Alliance Française, 72, KK Birla Lane, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi 110003
Time: 6:00 p.m.
In democracies stretching from Brazil to Nigeria, criminals routinely thrive at the ballot box. In India, the world’s largest democracy, as many as a third of elected politicians are under criminal indictment. The nexus between crime and politics raises complex questions: How can free and fair elections coexist with rampant criminality? Why do political parties actively recruit candidates with reputations for wrongdoing? And why do voters elect—and often reelect—them?
In a groundbreaking book, When Crime Pays: Money and Muscle in Indian Politics, Milan Vaishnav takes readers deep into the marketplace for criminal politicians. Drawing on fieldwork from the campaign trail, large surveys, and unprecedented data on politicians’ criminal records, Vaishnav will discuss his findings on the inner-workings of democracy’s underbelly. Yogendra Yadav will join the conversation, and Anubha Bhonsle will moderate. A cocktail reception will follow.
Anubha Bhonsle
Anubha Bhonsle is CNN-News18’s executive editor.
Milan Vaishnav
Milan Vaishnav is a senior fellow in the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where his primary research focus is the political economy of India.
Yogendra Yadav
Yogendra Yadav is one of India’s foremost political scientists and national president of Swaraj India.