Ever since a landmark decision on demonitisation of high value currency notes has been taken by the current NDA government in India , the focus of political and economic gurus has been shifted towards the series of electoral reforms to curb the menace of black money.
Elections in India forms the bedrock of a vibrant democracy but at the same time election also represents the manifestation of money and muscle power in its widest manner. Funding for election expenses by corporates, high-net worth individuals and even political parties forms the single largest sink of black money in India. As a result the winning party shows considerable inclination towards its funders in future policy actions.
Keeping this in mind the Election Commission of India has recently recommended several reform measures in the election process. These measures are as follows :
1) Anonymous contributions above or equal to the amount of Rs. 2000/- should be prohibited.
2) Exemptions of Income tax should only be extended to political parties that contest and win seats in Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies.
3) Law ministry should ensure that political parties are made to register details of donors for 'coupons' of small amount , on the basis of Supreme Court order of 1996.
These recommendations make sense as the current provisions under the Representation of Peoples Act,1951 provides for indirect partial ban on anonymous donation to the political parties to an extent of Rs 20,000/-. The election commission has noticed that amount of less than Rs 20,000/- forms the large chunk of unaccounted money with the political parties.
Moreover tax exemptions provided to the political parties for income from house property, voluntary contributions, capital gains and other are often misused by the parties and candidates to fulfil their illegitimate aims. Often bogus parties are also formed to claim exemptions under this provision.
Hence, these recommendations if implemented in letter and spirit would help in stemming the flow of black money in polls and render accountability and transparency to the entire election process.
But these reforms must be synced with other measures like :
a) State funding of elections through a suitable law providing penalties and reasonable restrictions.
b) Bringing political parties under the ambit of Right to Information (RTI) Act to ensure transparency in political system.
c) Self regulation by political parties and inner party democracy.
d) Simultaneous elections for election to centre and state legislature.
As most of these reforms demand political will and astuteness of current government in power, it is required that wider discussions and deliberation been conducted to implement these reforms. The reforms should then be implemented in a time bound manner. The majority government in the parliament and the pragmatic Prime Minister offer some ray of hope.
