The ceiling on how much a candidate can spend on campaigning for a Lok Sabha seat has been capped at ₹70 lakh, but an Andhra politico openly admitted to HS Brahma, the Election Commissioner, that on an average, a candidate will spend ₹3 crore in the forthcoming elections.
He added that if he were to contest, the amount would mount to ₹35 crore.
He also added that another politico contesting this time, had plans to spend ₹100 crore to win a seat in the polls. Brahma mentioned this while addressing the Confederation of Indian Industry’s annual general session here on Wednesday. He also admitted that the nexus between politics and crime and money are the two main challenges facing the Election Commission.
“Money power creates the biggest non-level playing field in the elections and muscle power is another issue,” Brahma said
Another “big enigma” for the Commissioner is the large number of political parties that are registered with the Election Commission. “There are 1,600 political parties registered with the EC since 1952. But only 85-90 parties contest the elections. The rest are there only to seek Income-Tax exemptions,” the Commissioner said, pointing out that such candidates use the money saved for purchasing land, jewellery and property, among others.
Brahma called for a stronger civil society movement to educate the people so that political parties become more ethical in their dealings.
He, however, said there is still hope as an average voter might have finally understood the value of his or her vote.
Citing an incident in a New Delhi constituency in the recent Delhi Assembly elections, Brahma said, “EC officials reported that two political parties visited a slum area, with one party offering ₹500 to each voter, while another was ready to provide liquor. But the voters turned them down urging them to “spare us this time.”