Context:
In the lead-up to the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, the then government launched a campaign featuring the slogan ‘India Shining.’ It was reported that approximately ₹150 crore was allocated for this campaign, making it one of the most substantial and controversial government-sponsored advertisement efforts at that time. Since then, over the last two decades, this practice has become a prevalent trend, with both Central and State governments investing significant amounts in advertising prior to elections for the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies.
Relevance:
GS2-
- Important Aspects of Governance
- Transparency and Accountability
- Elections
Mains Question:
Unless there are certain reforms, the public will continue to bear the massive expenses of the election spectacles in India. Highlighting the rise in election campaign expenditures, analyse how does it impact the democratic process and how to effectively deal with it. (15 Marks, 250 Words).
Information Through Advertisements:
- In a democratic nation, it is crucial for a government to disseminate information about its policies and initiatives. During the initial decades of independent India, this was predominantly achieved through public meetings.
- However, over the past three decades, awareness has been promoted through advertisements in print and electronic media, given their extensive reach.
- Nevertheless, current government advertisements preceding elections often function as campaigns for the ruling party, contributing to the establishment of personality cults.
- Despite the Supreme Court’s guidelines issued in May 2015 and March 2016 for the regulation of government advertisements, ruling governments still enjoy an advantage in publishing advertisements that disrupt the level playing field, particularly in the lead-up to elections.
- In the Indian electoral landscape, candidates are subject to an expenditure limit of ₹95 lakh per Lok Sabha constituency in larger States and ₹75 lakh in smaller States.
- However, it has become a norm to surpass the prescribed limits on election expenditure, with this transgression considered an essential characteristic for winning an election. In states infamous for this corrupt electoral practice, the official limit is not even a fraction of the actual election expenditure.
Relevant Statistics:
- According to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, the Central government allocated ₹3,020 crore for advertisements between 2018-19 and 2022-23.
- Notably, the expenditure was significantly higher at ₹1,179 crore during the election year of 2018-19 compared to ₹408 crore in 2022-23.
- Anticipating the upcoming general elections in April-May 2023, it is expected that this expenditure will further increase in 2023-24.
- In India, there exist no constraints on the election-related spending of political parties. The officially declared expenditures by the BJP and Congress for the 2019 elections were ₹1,264 crore and ₹820 crore, respectively.
- However, a report from the Centre for Media Studies (CMS) indicates that political parties collectively spent around ₹50,000 crore during the elections.
- Of this amount, the BJP accounted for approximately 50%, while the Congress spent about 20%. The report highlights that 35% of this expenditure was directed towards campaigns, while 25% was unlawfully distributed among voters.
- The Centre for Media Studies (CMS) estimates the potential expenditure during the 2024 general elections to be around ₹1 lakh crore.
Transparency in the Process:
- The primary sources of this funding are corporate houses and business figures, establishing an undesirable connection between donors and elected representatives.
- Elections in other major democracies like the U.S. and U.K. have also become financially significant events. However, it is the lack of transparency in most donations, coupled with the illicit distribution of cash for votes, that undermines the integrity of the free and fair election process in India.
- Although the Supreme Court has invalidated the electoral bonds scheme in an effort to eliminate opacity in legal donations, it is perceived as a temporary solution.
- The majority of funding still remains unaccounted for, primarily in the form of cash, akin to applying a band-aid to a bullet wound.
Way Forward:
- Moving towards a fair and equitable electoral landscape, the recommendations of the Indrajit Gupta Committee (1998) and the Law Commission report (1999) proposed the concept of state funding for elections.
- This entails the government contributing funds to political parties or candidates to facilitate their participation in elections.
- However, the practicality and implementation mechanism of this proposal are questionable in the current context, necessitating consensus among political parties and adherence to the norms of such state funding.
- To address this issue and ensure fair elections, practical steps based on the 2016 report, ‘Proposed Electoral Reforms,’ submitted by the Election Commission of India can be considered, contingent on political will.
- Firstly, a prohibition on government advertisements six months prior to any general election could be instituted.
- Secondly, an amendment to the law should stipulate that a party’s financial assistance to its candidate must conform to the prescribed election expenditure limits for that candidate.
- Thirdly, there ought to be a cap on party expenditures, perhaps not exceeding the expenditure ceiling limit designated for a candidate multiplied by the number of candidates from the party contesting the election.
- Finally, the appointment of additional judges in High Courts could expedite the resolution of election-related cases, acting as a deterrent against norm violations.
Conclusion:
These proposed reforms necessitate bipartisan political support for successful implementation. However, failing to enact these changes means that the substantial costs of election extravaganzas will ultimately be borne by the citizens, or as put in the phrase, ‘We the people.’
