Book Launch: When Crime Pays

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.

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.