Elections: The next economic stimulus
The outgoing UPA government must compliment itself for the 2009 general elections coinciding with the economic slowdown the country is passing through. After the three economic stimulus packages announced by the government in two months, the elections should administer the next booster dose to the ailing Indian economy.Look how much money is going to be pumped into the economy in the next few weeks. According to a conservative estimate, India will spend Rs10,000 crore to fight the coming Lok Sabha elections, more than what the United States spent on its presidential election. This will set off a boom in the services sector. The hospitality industry will be patronised by the criss-crossing netas and their cash-rich followers. The advertising industry will witness a surge with parties vying for cross-media publicity. Wayside eateries will brim with customers. Liquor shops will see longer queues in front of them. Autos, taxis and transport operators will have a field day.What more? The poll campaigners will be only too happy to fill your pockets. A survey reveals that as much as Rs 2,000-2,500 crore would be spent as ‘unofficial money’ or cash paid to the voters. The survey states Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka may top the list of states trying to purchase votes, with nearly half of voters there likely to be paid ‘cash for vote’ 24 hours before the polling day.The influx of so much cash into the hands of gullible voters will push up the demand for goods and services, falling in the wake of downturn.When L K Advani visited Mumbai the other day, his party workers presented him with a purse of Rs10 crore! If this is the money mobilised by the city unit of one political party in a matter of a few days, you can well imagine what quantum of money is going to be in circulation over the next few weeks. The loopholes in the law enable political activists to get away with splurging money on election campaign. It allows the filthy rich to turn black money into white. The Representation of Peoples Act has prescribed a ceiling on poll expenditure by candidates which now stands at Rs25 lakh for Lok Sabha and Rs10 lakh for Assembly elections. But under this archaic Act, the amounts spent by persons other than the candidate and his agents are not added to the election expenses of the candidates. This means a candidate can spend as much as he likes without violating the ceiling on poll expenses. There is absolute lack of transparency in political funding. Political parties don’t maintain mandatory accounts of amounts spent on elections or make audited accounts available for inspection. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) once asked its members to make donations to political parties only by cheque. CII felt that donation by cheque is a transparent way of funding elections so that their members would not be exposed to the charge of buying influence when they lobby for favourable policies. But many businessmen still prefer to make donations to political parties under the table for reasons best known to them.The politicians have a vested interest in allowing the status quo to continue. That’s why the successive governments have not acted upon the recommendations of commissions appointed in the past to curb spending on elections or go in for state funding of elections.In 2001, a commission appointed by the law ministry had recommended to the government to enact a legislation to compulsorily audit the accounts of all political parties, publicise such audited accounts and de-recognise parties that file false and incorrect election returns. But the commission’s report is gathering dust in the archives of the government. Well, this is not the time to worry about cleaning up the electoral stable, but to celebrate the festival of democracy
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