It is just too lucrative. And safe.

"This year's elections have seen 8,048 candidates from 679 parties contest; 15 years ago, it was 3,262 candidates representing 157 parties," wrote A Srinivas et al. With so much competition candidates have become richer and more criminal. The median wealth declared by 436 candidates of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is Rs 350 million, while that for 421 candidates of the Congress is Rs 440 million. "In reality, these numbers are likely underestimates since this is merely self-declared data from election affidavits and not a comprehensive measure of wealth. By comparison, wealth of 91% of the Indian population is less than $10,000, a paltry Rs 700,000, according to Credit Suisse. "And as competition gets tougher and constituencies get more crowded, more money is needed." "According to research by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), the chances of winning for a candidate with criminal cases in the Lok Sabha 2014 elections were 13% whereas for a candidate with a clean record they were 5%." ADR analysed affidavits of all 119 Members elected to the Telangana Legislative Assembly (MLAs) and found that 73 (61%) declared criminal cases against themselves. "47 (40%) MLAs have declared serious criminal cases including cases related to attempt to murder, a crime against women etc." In December, the Supreme Court  "was informed that there were 4,122 criminal cases pending, some for over three decades, against present and former members of Parliament and legislative assemblies". To convict anyone you need evidence and that has to be collected through meticulous investigation. India's top investigative agency the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was described as a "caged parrot" by Justice Lodha of the Supreme Court in 2013. It is not much better in 2019, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi being accused of targeting opposition politicians and parties. In February, police in Kolkata arrested 8 CBI officials and took them to the local police station for questioning. While accusing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of protecting corrupt officials the BJP should answer why the CBI has suddenly gone soft on two Bengal politicians who joined the BJP. Meat exporter Moin Qureshi, accused of money laundering through hawala transactions is said to have bribed several directors of the CBI. "The credibility of all institutions of accountability from the CVC to the CBI, judiciary to police, is in worse shape than five years ago," wrote Prof PB Mehta. "So most anti-corruption politics will remain confined to slash and burn exercise, useful for knocking down opponents, but with no lasting impact on the sinews of power." Hence, "Criminals themselves tend to enter politics for both the potential protection and the potential financial benefits it offers." Why change a winning system.