We must not vote for those with self-declared criminal cases

The net outcome is that political parties continue to give tickets to people with criminal cases against them, under the fallacious belief of their high "winnability". This is what creates the Hobson's choice for the voters.

Startling, and incontrovertible, proof of this can already be seen in the data relating to the first four phases of the Lok Sabha elections.

Of the 111 constituencies going to polls, 54 have three or more candidates who have declared criminal cases pending against them. These are what I call "Red Alert" constituencies.

In previous elections, on on average, there used to be two main political parties in most states. There were a few states that had more than two parties that were serious contenders for power.

The situation in the current election is somewhat different inasmuch as there are possibly three parties in contention. It is rare that more than three parties are serious contenders for power.