Economic
Highlight
New Delhi, 20 May
2019
$7 Billion Election
MONEY DOES TALK?
By
Shivaji Sarkar
Elections are becoming trickier, opaque and a
game of money power. Rigging polls is no more a hush-hush matter. In the run up
to the 17th parliamentary election, muscle power and not so
confidence-building EVMs are overtaking voters. The cost is increasing manifold
and some estimates suggest that Indian elections are as expensive as those of the
US presidency.
It is known, no electronic device is
foolproof. The introduction of VVPAT print trail has been a welcome move, but
the Election Commission’s reluctance to count all printed slips foxes the
voter. Its reasoning that it takes longer time in declaring results is a flimsy
argument but somewhere, though clumsily, it wants to say it would be an additional
expense.
Nirvachan Sadan forgets that an election,
which used to be over and done with, in about a month has now been extended to
three months. Is there any rationale? It appears that earlier the Commission was
more efficient and did a mammoth job in a shorter period even with ballot
papers. Can it therefore take the trouble to explain why it held polling in two
constituencies 15 days apart in the tiny State of Tripura?
A matching count of VVPAT slips it is estimated
would not add more than a day and therefore the EC’s reluctance is not easy to
comprehend. It must not forget that VVPAT slips are necessary for sheer credibility
of poll process, else it all adds up to nagging suspicion.
Poll expenses in 2014 were Rs 3870 crore, as
per the Election Commission data. In 2019, it is anticipated the exercise may
cost at least 50 per cent more. But let us not forget that the first election, through
ballot papers, in 1952 cost Rs 10.5 crore.
However, these expenses are only of the Central
government and do not include cost of State law and order machinery among
others, work loss in offices, banks and schools, etc. Thus, actual expenses are
rising and so is the blatant, scientific, artistic rigging and buying of votes.
It is not surprising when Open Secrets.org, which tracks money trail in US
politics, says about $6.5 billion was spent in US presidential race.
There are myriad expenses. Earlier it used to
be just advertisements and some event managements. Now it has expanded to media
management, social media, paid and fabricated news, continuous bombarding on
the voter with news or non-news or mud-slinging or unreal videos, et al. These
are not easy to calculate. In the Indian context, New Delhi-based Centre for
Media Studies estimated the total expenses in 2019 would be around Rs 50,000
crore or $7 billion, which is 2 billion more than in 2014, stated to be $5
billion.
Even modest calculations would put another approximate
Rs 3000 to 5,000 crore increase in EC’s official spending. Besides, it’s no
secret that cash, even up to Rs 5000 a vote, was doled out by some candidates
in the 2018 Assembly elections. Add to this other costs involved in use of
choppers, special flights, buses and other transportation modes by political
parties and their candidates.
While the election process in West Bengal and
Tripura have hit headlines due to blatant violations, it would be similar in
many other States, but with more finesse. These polls also confirm that Modi’s
note-ban has had little impact on entire process and it remains as tricky as it
was during the days of “vote chhapa” in Bihar or Haryana. Even the first
election was not free of it. There are narrations how musclemen were engaged by
influential people, then zamindars and petty royalties, who were afraid
of losing their clout in 1952.
This culture exists today too. There are brazen
claims by some party workers of pressing the EVM button 150 times each in different
booths. The truth is not easy to verify but the claim itself is not unbelievable.
Apparently political parties seem to master it well if we look at West Bengal,
Kerala or hinterlands of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Uttar
Pradesh or the North-East. These have monetary cost too.
Particularly in West Bengal it is an art practiced
since the days of Left Front regime. Then it was called scientific rigging and
soft to harsh methods were utilised. Now days State party cadres are more
subtle—they visit individual homes across the State, including Kolkata, greet voters,
have tea with them and ‘politely’ leave saying, “Dada for five years we have taken care of you. Please do not go to
the polling booth”.
Other times, it is not always that polite. In
villages particularly, party cadres visit homes and put indelible ink on the voters’
finger, saying “Your vote is cast. Don’t take the trouble any more to go the
polling booth”. Other subterfuges include driving the voters on polling day to
a picnic spot instead.
The violence as witnessed in Bankura, Ghaatal
and Midnapore is the result of rivalry between cadres for dominating an area. The
winner controls local businesses, real estate, security agencies and tolabazi
– extortion and contributes to the party fund. And this is vital for a
post-election scenario.
Recall, West Bengal perfected the art in 2018
panchayat polls. Not only did these elections cost 112 lives but one-third of the
panchayat seats were won by TMC candidates uncontested. The rivals were simply forced
to withdraw nomination by sheer force or threats. Further, the modus operandi
goes beyond polling day. Transportation and storage of EVMs as always with
ballot boxes has been tricky and suspect. Then there is the problem of secrecy
and credibility of electronic voting. Fiddling with an electronic device,
without even physically touching it, is possible.
There is no denying that elections are
becoming far more expensive as political parties are receiving funds through
election bonds, and yet declared contributions have seen a reduction, increasing
the anonymity. The Association for Democratic Rights has thus argued in the
Supreme Court against such funding, alleging black money donations through
shell companies.
In a statement in the Lok Sabha, the government
said that in 2017-2018, 520 electoral bonds worth Rs 222 crore were issued, of
which 511 worth Rs 221 crore were redeemed. Of these, the BJP received Rs 210
crore, the Congress Rs 5 crore and other parties Rs 6 crore. Obviously, this
suggests that smaller parties such as TMC, BSP, SP, BJD, TDP, TRS, AIADMK, DMK
or even those in J&K, Kerala and elsewhere are not cash-strapped.
Whoever may be winner of 2019 elections, the sanctity
of the process has been undermined. Post-poll, the Election Commission,
political parties and civil society organisations need to ponder whether India’s
democracy was held hostage by those who vow to cherish it? ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News & Feature Alliance)
New Delhi
17 May 2019
|