Indian PM warns over corruption

The caretaker Indian prime minister, I.

K, Gujral, has warned that the country faced great danger from criminals entering politics.

Democracy in India could not be saved, he said, if criminals managed to get elected.

Mr Gujral had appealed earlier for measures to bar anyone facing charges from contesting the forthcoming general election, even if they had not been convicted.

The appeal echoed similar calls from the President and the Election Commission, and has helped push the corruption issue to the forefront of the election campaign.

According to official figures, more than ten percent of candidates in the last election had convictions for murder, rape, robbery and kidnapping.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service