It’s going to be election time in Goa after few months and it’s raining sops and freebies already. The State has witnessed every election with most parties showering freebies and sops to the voters. While BJP promised 16,000 litres of water free of cost from next month, AAP has promised for 300 units of free electricity to every family, what Congress & other parties promises is a matter of curiosity. Considering the competitive populism of such nature, I hope it shouldn’t be the bane of Goan electoral politics which could lead to huge revenue deficits. In 2013 the Supreme Court said in a judgment that freebies shake the root of free and fair elections in large degree. It had also asked the Election Commission to frame guidelines for the contents of the manifesto.
Election Commission consulted political parties and after consultation they added one part in the model code of conduct that was part 8, earlier there were only 7 parts. The guideline given was that the election manifestos shall not contain anything repugnant to the ideas and principles enshrined in the Constitution and further it shall not be consistent with the letter and spirit of the provisions of model code of conduct.
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Second point was the directive principles of the state policy enshrined in the Constitution enjoin upon the state to frame various welfare measures for the citizens and therefore there can be no objection to the promise of such welfare measures in election manifesto however political parties should avoid making those promises which are likely to vitiate the purity of the election process or exert undue influence on voters in the exercising of the franchise.
The last one is in the interest of transparency level playing field and credibility of promises, it is expected that the manifesto also reflect the rationale for the promises and broadly indicate the ways and means to meet the financial requirements for it. Trust of voters should be sought only on those promises which are possible to be fulfilled. Basically, it’s a kind of advice as model code of conduct are not enforceable by law.
The model code of conduct is not enforceable, what is enforceable is Sec. 123 of the Representation of People Act. Representation of People Act does make bribery an offense but what is bribery? bribery is “if the candidate asks the voter that if you vote for me, I will give you this” that is said to be bribery. If a candidate says that “I will give a colour TV to everybody” and it doesn’t mention vote, then it’s not bribery and therefore the Supreme Court in the case of S. Subramaniam Balaji in 2013 has held that this will not constitute an offence, nevertheless the Supreme Court was uncomfortable with the fact that people are going on making promises upon promises and it influences the voter. The inference of influence can be drawn but the language of Sec.123 is such that the courts cannot take objection to a mere charitable gift given, or promise to be given without any element of a condition of vote.
So, if that condition of vote is not there than, this promise will not be an offence. A person who doesn’t have money and cannot give these freebies will never be able to garner votes and person who is in government can make promises of welfare but it will create an imbalance, it won’t be a level playing field so the Supreme Court was uncomfortable. They stated that we can’t do anything because we cannot legislate and we cannot direct the legislature to make a law as this is their sovereign function. But then they let the Election Commission to work on model code of conduct & see whatever is possible. Now, model code of conduct, whether somebody abides or not abide neither the election can be set aside nor anything else can be done. So, either we tighten the law or the rich are going to have a distinct advantage at the hustings and being able to influence or allure the voters.
The manifesto means if and when they form the government the money will be spent from the government treasury and not from the purchase of a political party or a person. What is ultimately happening is the so-called social welfare face of the government is now turning into giving freebies rather than providing the basic amenities like protected drinking water, quality education, quality schools, school buildings etc.
Election after election manifestos is not taken seriously, manifestos are prepared, released, neither people care nor political parties care for the manifesto. It’s time, rules to be formulated maybe some changes, so that if a party makes promises in the manifesto, they have to be accountable to those promises which has been made in the manifesto. The manifesto should be supported by a plan of action, timeline and a budget. They should be able to tell us, that from where they will get the money for fulfilling the promises. I think it’s worthwhile that we take the manifesto making a little more seriously.
We’ll wait and watch what will happen in Goa election scheduled before the current assembly expires on March 15, 2022, especially after this spate of freebies have been announced.
