By Nantoo Banerjee
The Election Commission of India (ECI) may be trying hard to control questionable electioneering practices which have been increasingly corrupting the process of free and fair election over the years, but it is unlikely to find it easy to influence or direct the behaviour of ruling political parties and their candidates. The official spending limit per Lok Sabha candidate varies between Rs.7.5 million and Rs.9 million. The federal government covers around 10 percent of the predicted gross expenditure for holding the elections. Officially, it spent Rs.38.70 billion for the 2014 Lok Sabha election. The rest was spent by political parties and candidates. However, the legal or accounted expenses represent only a fraction of the actual amount spent by candidates and their parties. Unofficially or in real situations, the money spent by a candidate could be 10 to 15 times the official spending limit or even more. The EC could do little about it.
The election campaign spending varies from candidates to candidates and their ability to generate cash funds. Ruling party candidates are generally best equipped with slush funds, collected illegally from government contracts or spending, illegal businesses of all kinds, kickbacks, cash-for-jobs and hawala transactions, to name a few. Sitting over black money mountains, they spend lavishly to win elections to retain the government power and make more money until the next election is due. Their motto is to win elections by any possible means. False voting and the use of musclemen to prevent genuine voters from casting their votes are not uncommon although reelections in troubled booths are held in exceptional cases. Unfortunately, the ECI, with limited administrative authority and power after the election and formation of a new government, could rarely take on a victorious candidate of a ruling party for disqualification.
Nevertheless, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar’s latest initiative to check the influence of illegal money in the election by using the combined services of some 20 central and state agencies, including the enforcement directorate, income-tax department, and directorate of revenue intelligence, is most welcome. The agencies are supposed to keep a watch on airports, helipads and movement of goods on chartered flights. The law-and-order situation would be tightened although it is purely the responsibility of states. The use of violence, terror tactics and influence will not be tolerated. The planning for stationing the central reserve police forces will have to be intimated to all political parties by the nodal officer of a state police. These are among several other steps directed by the CEC to ensure free, fair and political instigation-free election.
It is not that such steps were not taken in earlier elections, but they failed to produce the desired results. The use of cash bundles in election campaigns has been rampant and increasing. And, the ruling parties and their candidates in the states have always been in total command with the support and cooperation of the police and administration. Illegal money with candidates continues to flow to strengthen their election campaigns. It is believed that the coming Lok Sabha election for 543 seats is set to witness a record cash expenditure by leading political parties and their candidates, overwhelming all previous records. This time, the total expenditure may exceed Rs.1.2 trillion, according to the Delhi-based Centre for Media Studies. The amount, equivalent to US$14.4 billion, may exceed even the money spent during the US presidential election and Congressional campaigns in 2020.
The scrapping of the electoral bond system is unlikely to have any impact on the campaign spending in the forthcoming election although the pan-Indian Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) at the national level and Trinamool Congress (TMC) at the state level may feel a slight pinch in the absence of fresh electoral bonds, subscribed by undisclosed entities, for the ensuing Lok Sabha election. Of the total number of electoral bonds worth Rs. 12,008 crore sold between 2017-18 and 2022-23, BJP received nearly 55 percent or Rs.6,564 crore. The pan-Indian National Congress Party received Rs. 1,135 crore of all the bonds sold in the five-year period. Interestingly, TMC, a state level party, received as much as Rs.1,096 crore during the same period, the biggest by a regional party. According to a report published by the Association of Democratic Reforms on the electoral bonds funding of political parties in 2022-23, it was revealed that privately held Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Company, managed by P V Krishna Reddy, Adar Poonawalla-led Serum Institute of India and Lakshmi Mittal’s ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India emerged as top three donors.
Political parties are believed to have amassed vast amounts of cash money for spending in the forthcoming election campaign despite the scrapping of the electoral bond system. Most parties, including ruling parties in the states, have chalked out multi-level election campaign agendas. For instance, a state level ruling party leader has announced that he will hold 100 meetings across his state with an audience target of 1,00,000 each. Few can guess the possible expenditure for holding such mammoth gatherings, involving the cost of travel of participants from distant villages to each of the venues, their overnight stay, food supplies and cash gifts.
Since February, ruling political party bosses have been on a spree to announce new projects, lay foundation stones and inaugurate schemes. Thousands of projects of various shapes and sizes have been announced since last month. It is a routine practice by ruling parties before Lok Sabha and state assembly elections to impress electorates with their commitment to development, creating jobs and new opportunities. Most of these projects rarely see the light of the day. Additional cash doles in the form of pay rise for various low-wage service providers are being announced. The Election Commission can do little to stop such pre-election political bluffs and doles.
The government and the Election Commission may disagree, the corrupt election system is helping some political parties to remain in power for several terms to further institutionalize corruption. The mechanism is becoming increasingly complex and unwieldy, posing a big challenge to the success of India’s democratic system. As former CEC S Y Quraishi observes the “purity” of the election is at risk under unlimited election spending by political parties. There is no level playing field for non-ruling parties participating in the election process. (IPA )
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