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In the trading of charges between the BJP, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on election funding, we need to filter out the noise.
The AAP has accused the Big Two of receiving foreign funds in violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. The AAP too faces a court inquiry into foreign sources of income, and rightly argues that the others be probed as well. However, foreign funds are not the only problem.
The entire funding of political parties is shrouded in secrecy. On the basis of RTI petitions, the Association for Democratic Reforms reports that the Congress obtained a total income of ₹2,365 crore and the BJP ₹1,304 crore between 2004-05 and 2011-12. These numbers are absurdly low; they only point to the extent of unaccounted donations, foreign or otherwise. According to the law, political parties do not have to account for donations below ₹20,000. Why this exemption?
The amendment to the Representation of People Act in 2003, incentivised over-the- counter corporate donations by giving tax breaks. But this has not helped because the benefits of anonymity outweigh the tax concessions.
A method that may work to bring income collections into the open is to introduce state funding of political parties on the basis of donations garnered – say, a 1:1 or 1:2 principle, as suggested by political scientists such as E. Sridharan. This is fairer to new entrants than linking state funds to vote share. Besides, a detailed income statement of political parties must be placed in the public domain every quarter.
Transparency in revenues can also check the role of black money in election spending. This would keep expenditure within reasonable limits. Access to slush money acts as an entry barrier by driving up costs; hence, most elected representatives are crorepatis. This huge distance between the people and their leaders can destabilise our democracy.
Political parties cannot be expected to address this distortion. The Election Commission can take a few steps in the area of revenue reforms, with the Supreme Court’s backing.
However, there cannot be a better agent of change than public pressure. The people could dispel the cynical notion — as they did so wonderfully in the Delhi Assembly elections — that money alone makes a winner.
A Srinivas, Senior Assistant Editor
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