Recently the country witnessed the much hyped and intriguing elections in States of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. In the year 2017, elections were also held in Goa, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab. In 2018, eight more states will be going for State Assembly elections followed by 17th Lok Sabha elections in 2019. Thus it is rightly put that elections have become our favourite national pass-time, even surpassing cricket.
Elections and democracy are inseparable and there can be no argument on that. However, there has to be greater debate and viable solutions worked out on what should be the expenditure on elections, as elections have become an expensive affair in India. The unscrupulous use of money in elections makes one ponder as to what purpose is really served by these elections. It not only discourages good candidates from contesting elections, who shy away due to lack of finance, but also demoralises common man’s confidence in democratic institutions.
The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) Report reflects that the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections were the most expensive elections in Indian history, where the total expenditure was Rs. 30,000 crore.
Money possesses power to influence the entire electoral outcome. Buying and selling of tickets is common in India. There is anecdotal evidence that many candidates pay exorbitant amounts to buy party tickets to contest elections. Countless money goes in campaigning and contesting elections, resulting in pumping of unaccounted cash and other allurements to the voters, and commission to the agents. The expenditure incurred by the political parties, candidates and the government runs in crores of rupees, and paradoxically, the returns filed by the political parties and candidates reflect that the elections don’t cost much!
There is no action against those candidates who give false affidavit of their properties and wealth. No candidate is ever really disqualified on the basis of false election expenses. And the candidate who has more wealth to spend in elections invariably wins.
Donations form an important component of party finances. Lack of clear guidelines as what should be the upper limit for such donations, often have resulted in a large sum of black money given to the party in form of donation and with notorious intentions that their interests will not be side-lined. The provision for exemption from paying of taxes on donations received by the party, which is registered with Election Commission of India (ECI), has resulted in innumerable dummy political parties coming up in India, primarily for laundering black money. The scale of these dummy or dormant parties could be judged from the fact that from among the 1,646 parties registered with ECI, only 464, that is 28%, participated in 2014 Parliamentary Elections.
In the recent Gujarat elections, 34 rallies were addressed by Prime Minister Modi, 31 by Amit Shah and 30 by Rahul Gandhi! A large chunk of money also goes in buying of votes, distribution of liquor and other goodies, bribing officials, poll eve bonanzas, and patronising criminals. In this scenario, political parties may be inclined to give party tickets to politicians who have criminal records, as these are candidates who have wealth or access to wealth. Parties may recruit criminals because criminals bring with them money and the capacity to raise it, often through extortion. This has resulted in nexus between political parties, politicians with dubious records and muscle power.
The Political Parties have been receiving large amounts of donations from the corporate sector. According to ADR Report, 90 per cent of official funding received by political parties in 2014 elections has come from corporate houses. This is a dangerous trend. Today, the business houses have become very strong and their funding always comes with frills. They expect high returns, Government contracts, project clearances, etc.
The self-righteous image of a voter of India is taking a back seat. If the netas are ‘bekau’ the voters also want to follow their leaders. Voters are lured with cash money as well as with material benefits. Commodities such as washing machines, irons, fridges, etc. are distributed to attract women voters, while youth are offered a carrot by distributing mobiles and free Internet connections, or even two wheelers! This abuse of money power ardently calls for cleansing of Indian electoral ethics.
The legislative provisions regarding the ceiling on the expenditure in elections provided in the Representation of People’s Act 1951(RPA) have to be strictly implemented. The ECI should play a proactive role and take the candidate to task if he/she fails to abide by these provisions in RPA. It is a welcome move where any donation above Rs 2000 has to be in the form of cheque and not cash. The political parties should keep proper record of party finances, and should ensure transparency and willingness for public scrutiny.
The possibility of Public Funding can be explored as it can reduce the excessive flow of money. The candidates should try to use electronic and digital technology to campaign and there should be less emphasis on poll eve bonanzas, huge rallies, and such other means of campaigning. There have to be collaborated efforts of important bodies such as Income Tax Department, Banking Sector, Anti-corruption agencies, ECI and a proactive Civil Society with an effective use of RTI to regulate the abuse of money power in elections.
(Dr Seema P. Salgaonkar, Associate Prof. in Political Science, Govt. College,
Khandola, Marcela, Goa)
