A sham in the name of electoral reforms

The need for electoral reforms has come into sharp focus yet again.

The demonetisation scheme to curb black money and corruption has put the pressure on the Central government to seriously contemplate bringing about certain reforms.

It is a well-known that electoral funding remains one of the major sources of corruption in India.

Crores of rupees are spent in elections and a large chunk of it is not white money.

It is also an acknowledged fact that corporate houses fund political parties for a quid pro quo.

Add to this the fact that most political parties do not file audited accounts.

Even the biggest ones, the Congress and the BJP, have not filed accounts before the Election Commission for the year ended March 31, 2016.

The Congress has, in fact, been reluctant to furnish audited accounts and has several times written to the EC, questioning its jurisdiction in implementing such transparency measures.

It may be interesting to know that these parties had huge cash in hand and in banks amounting to Rs 653 crore (BJP) and Rs 601 crore (Congress), as of March 2016.

Even regional parties such as the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party have Rs 583 crore and Rs 514 crore respectively.

The most astonishing fact is that the BSP collected all the funds from ‘unknown donors,’ mostly in cash while the SP received a majority of its donations in cash and from people whose names do not find mention, possibly because the sum did not exceed Rs 20,000.

It is quite obvious that political parties have something to hide as they show more than 60 to 70 per cent of their total income coming from unknown donors.

In a country like India where poverty is rampant along with corruption and black money, it is surprising how the EC has allowed donations from anonymous donors.
The debate has taken a fresh turn as while the government initially announced that those depositing Rs 5000 have to furnish the source of their money, the political parties which collect crores from anonymous sources do not have to furnish any documents.

But just a day later the RBI withdrew this order as there was great resentment among the public.

It was pointed out that that aam janta is accountable while political parties are free to get black money from business houses.

In fact, the lifestyles of political leaders, even at the ward and panchayat levels suggest a relatively high standard perhaps due to getting huge amount of cash they manage to extract from even small businessmen.

Recently, the EC stated that receiving anonymous donations may be reduced from Rs 20,000 to Rs 2000.

The proposal, if accepted by the government, will reduce the size of the window available to political parties to accept donations without having to reveal the donor and improve transparency in political funding.

Already, 200 political parties have already been de-listed. If the present government takes a bold stand, it would be a pioneering venture.

One may mention here that over the years, the Election Commission has conducted a number of laudable electoral reforms to strengthen democracy and enhance the fairness of elections.

Undoubtedly, the election machinery, under the aegis of the EC, deserves credit for conducting elections more or less in a free and fair manner.

However, our system is still plagued by many vices. To win votes, political parties resort to foul methods and corrupt practices.

Such maladies encourage anti-social elements to enter the electoral fray.

The problem is not lack of laws, but lack of their strict implementation.

In order to stamp out these unfair tendencies, there is a need to strengthen the hands of the EC and to give it more legal and institutional powers.

The Commission must be entrusted with powers to punish the errant politicians who transgress and violate the electoral laws.

The need for further electoral reforms is, no doubt, an imperative if the government is serious of tackling black money and corruption.

It is a well-known fact that the political system itself is highly corrupt and big and medium-level political leaders are themselves involved in various types of corrupt practices.

Thus, unless there is political will at the highest level, even the changes proposed by the EC may not help in eradicating black money and remain on paper.

The cosmetic changes thus being envisaged cannot totally be dismissed.

These could be a stepping stone towards checking the larger issue of curbing black money and making political parties more transparent.

Though the Opposition has been critical of the government’s initiatives in this regard, the intentions cannot be doubted and also the fact after many years, action, even if small, has been taken.

The sincerity of both the bureaucracy and political leadership is critical to take this initiative forward.

The ‘ease of doing business’ in the country must become a reality.

It calls for a change in mindset, transparency in both decision-making and action and last but not the least certain electoral reforms.