• Research
  • Strategic Europe
  • About
  • Experts
Carnegie Europe logoCarnegie lettermark logo
EUUkraine
  • Donate
{
  "authors": [
    "Milan Vaishnav",
    "Yogendra Yadav",
    "Anubha Bhonsle"
  ],
  "type": "event",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
    "Carnegie India"
  ],
  "collections": [],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie India",
  "programAffiliation": "",
  "programs": [],
  "projects": [
    "Political Economy"
  ],
  "regions": [
    "South Asia",
    "India"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Political Reform",
    "Democracy",
    "Domestic Politics"
  ]
}
Event

Book Launch: When Crime Pays

Wed, February 8th, 2017

New Delhi

Link Copied
Project hero Image

Project

Political Economy

This program studies contemporary developments in India’s political economy, with a view towards understanding and informing India’s developmental choices. Scholars in the program analyze economic and regulatory policies, design and working of public institutions, interfaces between politics and the economy, and performance of key sectors of the economy such as finance and land.

Learn More
Register to attend

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.

South AsiaIndiaPolitical ReformDemocracyDomestic Politics

Event Speakers

Milan Vaishnav
Director and Senior Fellow, South Asia Program
Milan Vaishnav
Yogendra Yadav
Anubha Bhonsle

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

Event Speakers

Milan Vaishnav

Director and Senior Fellow, South Asia Program

Milan Vaishnav is a senior fellow and director of the South Asia Program and the host of the Grand Tamasha podcast at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. His primary research focus is the political economy of India, and he examines issues such as corruption and governance, state capacity, distributive politics, and electoral behavior. He also conducts research on the Indian diaspora.

Yogendra Yadav

Anubha Bhonsle

Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Europe
Carnegie Europe logo, white
Rue du Congrès, 151000 Brussels, Belgium
  • Research
  • Strategic Europe
  • About
  • Experts
  • Projects
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Careers
  • Privacy
  • For Media
  • Gender Equality Plan
Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Europe
© 2026 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. All rights reserved.