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PrICE `60
oCT. 1-15, 2018, VoL. 18, IssuE 7, No. 118 A De v e l op m e n t A n D e n v i ron m e n t f ort n ig h t ly
GEoGrAPHy and you
THE ELECTIoN sPECIAL
V TE
for rEforms
▀ Simultaneous Elections ▀ Should the State Fund Elections in India?
▀ Spatial Patterns and Voter Turnout ▀ Increasing Women Voter Turnout in
Indian Elections ▀ Revisiting India’s Electoral Systems ▀ Citizenship and
Representative Claims: Implications for 2019
PARI
Strengthening Democracy
LONDON, The U. K.
NEW DELHI, INDIA
Joint International Course (New Delhi-London) on
“Public Policy Management in Parliamentary Democracy”
For officers of Ministries/Departments/Autonomous Organisations/Institutions and
PSUs under Government of India, State Assemblies and States Governments
Batch I Monday 14th to Wednesday 23rd January 2019
Batch II Monday 18th to Wednesday 27th February 2019
Batch III Monday 18th to Wednesday 27th March 2019
Officers from 59 Central Ministries/Autonomous Bodies/PSUs and State Assemblies
have received training so far
Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Ministry of
Development of North Eastern Region, Department of Space, National Aluminium Company (NALCO), National Buildings
Construction Corporation (NBCC), Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited(BHEL), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Central
Coalfields Limited (CCL), South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL), Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), Mahanadi
Coalfields Limited (MCL), Western Coalfields Limited (WCL), Deptt. of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Indian Bank,
RITES Limited, Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL), ONGC, UM-DAE Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences,
CSIR - Central Electrochemical Research Institute , Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Integrated Coastal and
Marine Area Management (ICMAM), India Meteorological Department (IMD), Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research,
Lokopriya Gopinath Bordoloi Regional Institute of Mental Health, Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST), National
Biodiversity Authority (Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change), All India Institute of Medical Sciences, AIIMS
(New Delhi), Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research (JIPMER), Ircon International Limited, Central
Mine Planning & Design Institute Limited (CMPDI), National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Institute for Plasma Research,
Office of the Controller General of Defence Accounts, National Institute of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases, National
Council for Promotion of Sindhi Language (NCPSL), Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, NPC, IIFT, NSDC, IOCL, Ministry
of Communication (Department of Posts), National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Meghalaya Legislative
Assembly Secretariat, Punjab Vidhan Sabha Secretariat, Central Institute of Himalayan Culture Studies (CIHCS), Chittaranjan
National Cancer Institute (CNCI), Sikkim Legislative Assembly Secretariat, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi;
National Council of Science Museums, Kolkata, West Bengal; Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, Gujarat; Central
Council For Research in Unani Medicine, New Delhi, Bharat Petroleum, Mumbai, Maharashtra; Children’s Film Society India,
Mumbai, Maharashtra; Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, Mumbai, Maharashtra; National Institute for Micro, Small and
Medium Enterprises (ni-msme), Hyderabad, Telangana; National Institute of Rock Mechanics, Bangalore, Karnataka
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G’nY SINCE 2001
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GeoGraphy and you a dEvElopmENt aNd
ENvIroNmENt maGazINE
VOL. 18 ISSUE 7 No. 118 OCTOBER 1-15, 2018
OpInIOn 34 Newspaper & Voting Behaviour:
4 Simultaneous Elections A Perspective on Kolkata
S Y Quraishi Saikat Banerjee & Bibek Ray Chaudhuri
Simultaneous elections is a radical electoral reform. The Choice of a political party during voting is significantly impacted by
current system cannot however be scrapped, simply based on the the media, more significantly by the newspaper, that a voter depends
assumptions of the benefits it will bring. on for information.
DeBatIng refOrms UnDerstanDIng refOrms
8 Should the State fund Elections in India? 38 Revisiting India’s Electoral Systems
Niranjan Sahoo Staff Reporter
Although state funded elections may put some pressure on the Analysing electoral systems such as First-Past-the-Post, Proportional
state exchequer, larger public interests require that such reforms Representation and Mixed Member Proportional Representation.
be brought about.
44 Electronic Voting Machines:
DataIsm In eLeCtOraL refOrms Reforming the Elections
18 Spatial Patterns and Voter Turnout Staff Reporter
Sulagna Chattopadhyay Electronic voting machines have reduced the electoral voting time
People from different regions vote differently owing to various factors considerably, but questions on its efficacy are still being raised.
like literacy, economic status, political awareness and more.
50 Citizenship and Representative Claims:
28 Increasing Women Voter Turnout in Implications for 2019
Indian Elections Ashutosh Kumar
Sanjay Kumar Representative claims in Indian democracy are dynamic and
While women’s turnout in recent elections has gradually increased, both influence voting patterns and determine emerging issues of
other factors need to be paid due consideration. civil rights.
In c onversatIo n wIth o P r awat
14
The Chief Election Commissioner of India
discusses the feasibility of simultaneous
elections, the need for electoral reforms In BrIef
and factors that determine voting 2 Letters; 3 Editor’s note; 7 Salient Recommendations
behaviour across the country. on Simultaneous Elections; 55 Election Prep;
56 Books & Websites
Expert Panel
B Meenakumari Ajit Tyagi Rasik Ravindra Saraswati Raju
Chairperson, Air Vice Marshal (Retd) Former Director, Former Professor, CSRD,
National Biodiversity Former DG, IMD, NCAOR, Jawaharlal Nehru
Authority, Chennai. New Delhi. Goa. University, New Delhi.
Prithvish Nag B Sengupta Sachidanand Sinha D Mukhopadhyay
Former Vice Chancellor, Former Member Secretary, Professor, CSRD, Managing Director
MG Kashi Vidyapeeth, Central Pollution Control Jawaharlal Nehru AIRA,
Varanasi. Board, New Delhi. University, New Delhi. New Delhi.
september 16-30, 2018 vol. 18 issue 6, no. 117: The G’nY issue on
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2 october 1 - 15 2018 GeoGraphy and you issue 7
Guest Editor
India is the largest democracy in the world. Over 550 million voters
participated in the 2014 general elections (Election Commission of India Report
2014)—equal to the population of the USA, Russia, the UK and Canada put
together. This displays the enormity of India’s polling process. On the face
of it, India’s democratic institutions seem to be functioning satisfactorily, with
regime change being enabled as per the will of the voters, making the transition
smooth. India has constitutionally opted for first-past-the-post system for
general elections to the Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the states. The
system, however, presents interesting anomalies, one where a candidate can
Dr N Prasad still be a winner even if the person does not secure majority votes and second,
Director, where despite obtaining a sizeable vote share, a party may not gain a seat. A
Parliamentary & case in point is the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, where the Bahujan Samaj party
Administrative Research
Institute, New Delhi obtained 20 per cent of the votes but failed to win even a single Lok Sabha
seat. This needs to be resolved and the article in this issue on the electoral
system in India provides a brief blue-print of the reforms urgently needed.
The elections to the Lok Sabha and the states were held simultaneously to
begin with. Somewhere down the line, with mid-term polls declared in some
states, elections began to be held on varied timelines. Of late this has become
frequent, so frequent that elections seem to be held round the year. This has
been interpreted as the inability of the union government to function suitably.
Scholars believe that in a federal setup, the central government should exhibit
minimum interest in the assembly polls. Also, for a vibrant and inclusive
democracy we need to let people decide when and how they want to elect their
representatives. Mr Quraishi’s opinion piece succinctly outlines such ideas and
more. In addition the candid interview with India’s Chief Election Commissioner
highlights myriad issues confronting India’s increasingly complex political
milieu. I am sure the issue would make for informed reading.
Editor’s note Free will has been subject to coercion and manipulation. Whether it is
submission to the Lord, the ruler or even elders in the family, human conduct
has been based on the sublime quality of being a devout ‘follower’. For
example, we believe today that the conduct of elections, not necessarily the
outcome, is based on the free and fair will of the citizens of India. But neither
is the will free and nor is it fair. We all are essentially followers, allowing
ourselves to be organized, with communication as the key attribute in
controlling our wavering thoughts. Voting is our sacred duty—or so the state
would have us believe. It really does not provide any tangible rewards—just a
collective voice that helps place another human upon our heads. What makes
a human decide whom to place on a pedestal? Is it a momentary call or is it
Sulagna Chattopadhyay
based on long reasoned contemplation? Does the candidate belong to your
Founder-Editor,
Geography and You, community, caste, region or religion—the classic ‘outsider-insider’ appeal, or is
New Delhi the leader exceptionally well-read and promising—the ‘development’ deal, or
does he sport a demi-god persona with lineage to bag—the ‘bloodline’ charm,
or finally has he simply bought you off—the ‘corruption’ contract? Schisms
exist and free will is only a partial truth. Every voter decision is a ‘like’ and a
‘follow’ based solely on societal diktats—especially visible in the context of
the social media, where ‘trolls’ exhibit interesting culturally diverse mindsets.
So complex is the process of free will that two juxtaposed states behave in
a completely opposing manner—one topping the voter turnout and the other
falling to the bottom. I wonder how Bihar and West Bengal have managed to
occupy similar realms, yet created chasms so wide that free will itself stands
to question.
GeoGraphy and you october 1 - 15 2018 3
Op iniOn
S Y QuraiShi
Former Chief Election Commissioner of India
syquraishi@gmail.com
Simultaneous Elections
T
he issue of simultaneous elections continues to make consistent headlines in daily
news feeds. The General Elections of 2019 are approaching and this debate is
inevitable. The idea was first flagged by the Prime Minister in 2014 and also formed a
part of the BJP manifesto in the last General Elections, and so it continues to be a major
subject of deliberation.
In a latest development, while the CEC O P Rawat ruled out the possibility of simultaneous
elections saying that it is not feasible due to lack of legal framework (“Koi chance nahi,” Rawat was
quoted as saying by the news agency PTI), the Law Commission has asked for more debate and
deliberation while endorsing the idea in principle, saying that holding simultaneous elections will
help save public money and reduce the burden on the administrative machinery and security forces.
A slew of ‘inevitable constitutional amendments’ (as the Law Commission proposed in its draft
report) will be required if this system has to become a reality. Five of them were proposed by the EC
itself, in Article 83 (duration of Houses of Parliament), Article 85 (dissolution of Lok Sabha by the
President), Article 172 (relating to the duration of state legislatures), Article 174 (dissolution of state
assemblies) and Article 356 (President’s Rule).
Those in favour of simultaneous election give a host of valid-sounding arguments. Frequent
elections surely impede the normal day to day functioning of the country. It affects the overall life of
the civilians. So why not make them vote all at once when the necessary paraphernalia is available
such as polling booths and machines, all at one place and time? It does sound as if this will make life
convenient for the voters.
The imposition of Model Code of Conduct poses its own set of perceived challenges. The
Government cannot announce any new policies and programmes while the code is in operation and
this leads to a ‘policy paralysis’. Hence, for the government, the time from the date of announcement
to the conduct of elections and announcement of results is seen as a waste of time.
Astronomical costs are involved in conducting elections for a country as large as India.
Indiscriminate spending by political parties in both general and state elections makes the bill balloon.
4 OctOber 1 - 15 2018 GeOGraphy and yOu issue 7
No cap exists on party expenses as of now, and
one estimate puts this at approximately INR 30,000
crores in the last General Elections! The cost
of conducting elections in the country is itself
exorbitant—approximately INR 4,500 crores. Such
an exorbitant amount being spent in a country with
poor resources remains an overarching concern.
Article 324 (6) of the Constitution states that
the President of India (and Governor in the states)
have to provide the EC with required staff for
the conduct of free and fair elections. To make
this possible, government officials are put on
election duty and hence this leads to a diversion
of manpower from governance-related functions.
The Delhi High Court ruled in 2007 that teachers
should not be employed in non-teaching jobs
Photo Courtesy: CCo
for election duty. But the Hon’ble Supreme Court
overruled in support of the EC, saying that lack of
manpower necessitates it.
Another argument against the present election
cycle is that it is continuous and so issues of
governance are neglected. Populist tendencies Elections lead to generation
run high and politicians are constantly in of enormous work
campaign mode. This breeds and encourages
opportunities. Also politicians
casteism, poisonous identity politics, regionalism,
communalism and crony capitalism. It disturbs
are forced to go amongst the
harmony and leads to corruption and conflict. voters and be accountable.
All these problems were acknowledged way
back by the Law Commission in its 170th Report
in 1999 where it endorsed simultaneous elections at both Centre and state levels. NITI Aayog
has called simultaneous elections as feasible because “elections to Lok Sabha and all state
Legislative Assemblies were held simultaneously between 1951 and 1967”. But the theory is
more perfect than the practice. Simultaneous elections will not only interfere with federal polity
and lead to suboptimal outcomes in such as diverse country as India, but they are also far from
feasible and present a host of challenges.
Let us argue with a few solid reasons why it is not a practical idea and why the arguments
in favour are ideal only in theory. The esteemed makers of our Constitution also aspired
for synchronised election cycles. As early as 1956 PM Nehru imposed President’s Rule in
Kerala and vulnerability of the idea was exposed. Early elections were called and elections
were formally delinked in 1971 as it was acknowledged that in our political system, five year
synchronised terms are not guaranteed.
What will happen if the Lok Sabha is dissolved? Will the entire nation go to polls? 1998
serves as an example when the Lok Sabha was dissolved in 13 days. Of the 16 Lok Sabhas,
eight were prematurely dissolved. Even though dissolution is becoming less frequent of late
with interventions such as the Anti Defection Law and the Supreme Court’s strong observations
against frequent use of Article 356 (S R Bommai case 1994), this is the era of coalition politics
where five year terms are far from guaranteed.
The argument concerning the Model Code of Conduct is also misguided. There is a reason
GeOGraphy and yOu OctOber 1 - 15 2018 5
it disallows any new announcements. How can bribing voters on the eve of elections be
acceptable? The ongoing schemes go on as usual, just new announcements are not allowed.
Adding to that, in the event of any urgent announcements, the government can always take
approval from the EC and go ahead.
Frequent elections are a necessity in a federal polity. Elections lead to generation of enormous
work opportunities. Politicians are forced to go amongst the voters and be accountable. The
federal structure requires that state and Central level issues be separated and diverse and they are
more often not dissimilar. If we have simultaneous elections, the local and national issues will all
get submerged which is not good for the voters and certainly not good for the country at large.
Varieties of the simultaneous model are being floated to resolve some of these issues.
NITI Aayog has proposed two elections in five years. What they mean is that elections for
14 states can take place with the General Elections in 2019 and the rest can take place in
October-November 2021. Once these elections are synchronised, then polls could be held once
in two-and-a-half years. Back in April 2018, the Law Commission also proposed something
similar. It said that the elections of those states which were scheduled close to 2019 can have it
along with the General Elections. The remaining can be synchronised with the General Election
scheduled to be held in 2024.
But this just seems to be a watered down I strongly believe that
version of the initial proposal. To top it all, recent
the government will
elections in two states—Himachal Pradesh and
Gujarat—which were always held simultaneously
not rush the matter and
were segregated by nearly two weeks prolonging will engage in further
the model code. Even 16 by-elections were not held discussions on the issue.
at once within a single state—Karnataka—in May
2018, prolonging the model code by 25 days. This puts a question on the bonafides of
the proposal.
Can we deal with the problems raised by PM through an alternative route? For instance,
there could be a cap on the total election expenditure of political parties to limit the enormous
influence of money power in political outcomes. I strongly stand by my assertion that there
should be public funding of political parties with a corresponding ban on corporate fund
collection. The funds can be provided in proportion of votes received.
Durations of elections can be reduced from the present 2-3 months to 33 days, if paramilitary
forces can be made available in large numbers. We could also consider ‘One Year One Poll’
system, by extending the discretion of Election Commission to club all elections falling within
six months to one year.
There is a broad agreement that simultaneous elections are a radical electoral reform. It
will have far reaching consequences and so political consensus is required along with proper
planning to remove defects in the complex system. The system cannot be simply scrapped based
on simplistic assumptions about what simultaneous elections will do. The Opposition parties
have called the idea ‘undemocratic’ and ‘unconstitutional’.
I strongly believe that the government will not rush the matter and as the Law Commission
also proposed in the first week of September, have more discussions on the issue. The EC will
also require adequate number of machines and manpower for the same. During its discussions
with the Law Commission back in May, officials informed the latter that they will need an
additional INR 4,500 crores to procure extra 12 lakh EVMs and same number of VVPATs for the
purpose. There seems to be no talk of those funds as of now. The myriad effects of the idea on
the federal features that make our polity accommodate diversity are also being debated, and I
personally do not think it is worth jeopardising the same.
6 OctOber 1 - 15 2018 GeOGraphy and yOu issue 7
SALIENT RECOMMENDATIONS
on SiMULtAnEoUS ELECtionS
In br Ief
LAw CommIssIoN of INdIa ParlIameNTary StAnding NITI AAyog
Simultaneous elections may be CommITTee Simultaneous elections address the
conducted by amendments to the The Standing Committee on Personnel, problem of frequent elections in the
Constitution, the Representation of Public Grievances, Law and Justice country. Frequent elections tend to have
the People Act, 1951 and the Rules of stated that it will not be difficult to an impact on governance and policy
Procedure of Lok Sabha and those of conduct simultaneous elections every making in the country, affecting the
the state legislative assemblies. five years in the near future. designing of developmental measures.
The definition of ‘simultaneous It recommended holding simultaneous The government and the key decision
elections’ may be added to the elections in two phases, wherein the makers would need to work towards
Section 2 of the Representation of the elections of some legislative assemblies achieving a consensus across political
People Act. can be held at midterm of the Lok Sabha parties and institutions like Election
The provision for no confidence and the remaining with the end tenure of Commission of India for implementation of
motion can be replaced with the Lok Sabha. simultaneous elections.
constructive vote of no confidence State assemblies whose terms end Implementing simultaneous elections
by amendments to the Rules of before or after a time period of would lead to some short-term problems.
Procedure and Conduct of Business of six months to one year from the However, it would be a stepping stone
Lok Sabha. appointed election date can be towards improved governance and a larger
A rule of Procedure and Conduct of brought together. initiation of electoral reforms—a much
Business of Lok Sabha and a new Sections 14 and 15 of Representation needed measure to improve the Indian
Rule in the form of Rule 198-A, can be of People Act, 1951 may be used to polity.
added for the above. hold elections without extension of
terms of some assemblies.
GeoGraphy and you october 1 - 15 2018
7
Deb at ing r ef or m s
Conducting large scale rallies for
elections requires massive funds. In
the absence of equitable access to
funds for campaigning, not all parties
can reach out to the electorate.
8 OctOber 1 - 15 2018 GeOGraphy and yOu issue 7By Niranjan Sahoo
Should the State FuNd
Elections in India?
While public funding of elections would cost the exchequer a bomb,
public interest demands that the state earmarks subsidies to clean
up its democratic polity.
Photo Courtesy: amyePuCkett
GeOGraphy and yOu OctOber 1 - 15 2018 9I
n the middle of his controversial individuals do not exercise undue influence in the
demonetisation drive in November 2016, electoral processes. According to this school of
Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the thought, political equality demands the concept of
occasion to call for a national debate to ‘equal political influence’, meaning no citizen has
explore the possibility of public funding more power over the political process as compared
of elections and political activities in India. to other citizens (Dworkin 1996; Rawls 1993). In
The idea of state funding of politics has gained other words, the equality view of public funding
currency internationally. According to the global rests on one central fear that left to themselves,
democracy watchdog International IDEA, as political actors will transform economic power
many as 116 democracies now offer some form of into political power and thereby violate the
state subsidies to reduce the influence of money principle of political equality.
in democratic processes. Richer and advanced There are thus three broad assumptions that
democracies like the United States (US), the clearly emerge from the above philosophical
United Kingdom (UK), Germany, Finland and underpinnings. First, the anti-corruption
Italy have been experimenting with state funding argument about keeping big money out of
for many years. In Asia, countries such as Japan, politics demands that the state takes appropriate
South Korea and Israel have adopted a public steps to address the challenges of private finance
funding model for quite some time. Incidentally, confronting political parties and candidates.
the Latin American countries were the first to Second, that public financing is necessary to
introduce state subsidies for political parties. It equalise influence and promote competition—
was Uruguay which introduced state subsidies in create a level playing field for parties and
1920s. Later the idea was borrowed by Costa Rica candidates with less resources vis-à-vis with
and Argentina. More than seven Latin American parties and candidates with ex ante equality.
democracies now have a system for state funding Third, that a strong public interest rationale
(Sahoo, 2017). demands public financing of elections as they
benefit democracy and serve the common good.
a compelling case for public funding Are there any ways to measure these claims
of politics made by the advocates of public funding? The
Public financing model is being widely propagated evidence emerging from the global experience
for its anti-corruption claims. Globally, anti- raise plenty of doubts over the effectiveness of
corruption theorists base their claim on intuitive public financing scheme. Most pointers from
and historically verifiable indicators, where the global experience indicate that the picture is
election contributions in some instances, function far from rosy. For instance, countries like Italy,
as a kind of legalised bribery that prevents political Israel, and Finland that embraced public funding
actors from acting independently (Bradley, 1997). in the previous decades are yet to witness any
Analysts therefore push for public financing of visible reduction in election expenditures
elections to mitigate the importance of ‘private (Zamora, 2008). Similarly, in the case of the
money’ by keeping ‘big money’ out of politics United States, election expenditure continues
(Committee on Standards in Public Life, 2011). to soar. In fact, the Obama years witnessed two
Public finance can help protect the political process of the most expensive presidential elections
from direct, quid pro quo kickbacks or corruption. (Hudson, 2012). Only a handful of countries like
State funding for them is an affirmative system, Germany and Japan have been able to reduce
rather than just a restrictive one that seeks to their poll expenditures to a reasonable extent
prevent corruption, promotes diversity among (Carlson, 2015; Sridharan, 2001). Yet, successes in
candidates and acts as a public service to the entire these countries have come largely through strict
society instead of helping the donors. transparency and disclosure norms, elaborate
This is not to deny the original theoretical regulatory mechanisms and public scrutiny of
assumption for public financing of well known expenditures by parties and candidates.
political philosophers, John Rawls and Ronald In terms of checking corruption and the
Dworkin. For them, public funding aspires to growing plutocratic influence on party finance
establish an ‘equalising influence’—an effort that and corruption, the results are not all that
goes on to ensure that certain powerful groups or encouraging either. (Londono and Zovatto,
10 OctOber 1 - 15 2018 GeOGraphy and yOu issue 7State funding of elections can help
reduce the influence of powerful groups
or individuals in the electoral process.
2014). For instance, in the cases of Israel and the compete with incumbents (Zamora, 2008).
US, as noted above, public subsidies have not Besides this, there are also peculiar
reduced the reliance on big private donations. experiences, particularly with regard to parties
Similarly, in several Latin American countries, that have certain ideological preferences, like the
particularly Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador left or parties with socialist leanings. It is widely
and Costa Rica, public subsidies have proved known that these entities find it increasingly
rather ineffective in limiting the role of business in difficult to compete with right-wing parties
political financing. Therefore, not only did public due to the fact that huge private funds are
subsidies in this case fail in replacing the need to readily available to the latter. In some ways, the
attract private donations, but it also became an introduction of public subsidies is helping left
additional source of income for the parties (ibid). leaning entities, as is evident in the case of Latin
There are few successful examples, though. America’s Uruguay (Zamora, 2005).
Take the case of Canada. The North American
country which introduced public subsidies as a Lessons for india
part of a whole set of reforms, including spending India is plagued by many problems related to the
ceilings, tax incentives for smaller contributions opaque and murky nature of political finance.
has been able to reduce the role of interested It is in public knowledge that the 2014 General
money in party financing (Nassmacher, 2014). Election was said to be the second most expensive
In Sweden, generous public subsidies, which election after the 2012 US presidential election
far exceed private donations and minimal state (Sahoo, 2017). As per a study by the Centre for
intervention in party affairs have been successful Media Studies in 2014, the figure was stated to
in reducing temptation for parties to seek be about a mammoth INR 300,000 million (Sen,
anonymous, interested money (Ohman, 2015). 2014). Buying votes by giving cash, alcohol, drugs
In both these cases, it is necessary to understand and more is also a common practice.
that other factors were also responsible for the Second, political finance in India is opaque.
resultant effect than mere introduction of public Income from known sources only forms a minor
financing option. part of the finance of the major parties in the
Has state funding helped in motivating new country. Between 2004-05 and 2014-15, parties
entrants and promoted electoral competition? were financed to the tune of just INR 113,670
The jury is still out. The evidence from global million of which less than 20 per cent came from
experiences suggests that public subsidies officially declared sources (Sahoo, 2017). It is
fostering competition is a function of how public common knowledge that a large portion of these
subsidies are distributed. In countries like Russia, funds are from illicit sources.
it has been used to stifle political competition and Third, like most democracies around the world,
promote authoritarianism. In fact, the 2001 public there is huge dependence on interested money
funding law in Russia has led to a situation where it from the corporate in financing elections and
is almost impossible to challenge the ruling party party activities. This, coupled with the major role
(Golosov, 2014). Thus, it has led to creation of a played by the state in regulating the economy,
cartel party. However, there is modest evidence of has resulted in most of the money coming from
the opposite too. In some instances, particularly in corporations through illegal and undisclosed
the cases of Israel, Italy and Mexico, introduction means which in turn has resulted in the increasing
of public subsidies has brought greater role of black money in elections and other party
competition by enabling entry of newer parties activities. Even tax benefits have not proven to be a
and providing smaller parties with the funds to good enough incentive for the corporate to reveal
GeOGraphy and yOu OctOber 1 - 15 2018 11their identity as they fear backlash from parties in appointed by successive governments in the last
power (Gowda and Sridharan, 2012). two decades have discussed various proposals of
Fourth, there is an absolute lack of competition direct state funding of parties and elections, but
at the level of candidature within parties. Due to have largely failed to build consensus on criteria,
the increasing need for money, most candidates methods and quantum of such funding.
chosen by parties are individuals who can finance
themselves and do not rely on party funds for endnote
campaigning. This has led to an increase in the Given the nature of political finance and the
number of rich candidates and has also resulted increasing role of money in elections, India needs
in an increasing number of criminals contesting to take the public funding option seriously. Global
elections (Vaishnav, 2017). examples, as cited above, can prove handy for
Finally, there is very limited internal democracy India. While it varies from country to country,
in parties as power lies in the hands of a few there are established processes and practices to
dynasts and regional satraps who control party learn from. From the policy perspective, it would
finance. With the growing role of money in make sense to pay close attention to success
elections, most parties, with some exceptions, stories. The success stories of Sweden, Canada,
select rich candidates or the ones with ability to and to a lesser extent Japan reveal that an effective
raise funds to fight elections. This has often led to public funding model has two elements: reducing
businesspersons and even criminals self-selecting the dependency on the corporate or private
themselves as candidates while meritorious or money (by strict restrictions on limits, strong
talented candidates find it difficult to participate in regulations, disclosures) and infusing white
the democratic processes (Vaishnav, 2017). money through state funding or incentivising
Successive governments in India have taken various other funding options including tax
note of the challenges and introduced a series free donations/loans, matching funds, etc.
of reforms to curb the growing influence of Nonetheless, as seen from the Canadian example,
money and the plutocratic tendencies distorting to a great degree, success came through strict
democratic processes (Law Commission, 2015). transparency and disclosure norms, elaborate
Among the many reform proposals, the idea regulatory mechanisms, and public scrutiny of
of public funding of elections has been in the expenditures by parties and candidates.
discussion for quite some time. Many committees Here again, India’s existing system of political
Photo Courtesy: CCo
Canada’s reforms for political finance, such as spending ceilings and tax incentives for lesser contributions have reduced the role of
interested money in elections.
12 OctOber 1 - 15 2018 GeOGraphy and yOu issue 7finance laws and institutional processes is light Golosov, Gigorii E., 2015. Japan, in Norris, Abel
years away from meeting those conditionalities and Fennis (eds.), Checkbook Elections: Political
for state funding. India’s broken political finance Finance in Comparative Perspectives, London:
regime accompanied by lack of clear rules on Oxford University Press
transparency, disclosures, and the absence of a Gowda R.M.V. and E. Sridharan, 2012. Reforming
strong and effective regulatory agency makes it India’s Party Financing and Election Expenditure
an unsuitable candidate for public funding. Yet, Laws, Election Law Journal, 11(2).
these are in fact the precise reasons why India Hudson J., 2012. The Most Expensive Election
needs to embrace state funding model to fund its in History by the Numbers, The Atlantic,
politics. Given the fact that in nearly all countries November 6.
that have introduced public financing option, Law Commission of India, 2015. Report No. 255:
this has been preceded by a regulatory regime of Electoral Reforms, Available at: https://bit.
transparency and disclosure and regulatory body ly/2zJ4X9I
(in many cases empowering existing electoral Londono J.F. and D. Zovatto, 2014. Latin America
commissions) to go after the violators. India’s in Falguera, Jones and Ohman (eds.), Funding
underdeveloped and slack political finance of Political Parties and Election Campaigns:
regime and missing regulatory body would A Handbook of Political Finance: 128-167,
receive a big push from the new scheme (Sahoo, International IDEA: Strömsborg.
2017; Gowda and Sridharan, 2012). Nassmacher K., 2014. The Established Anglophone
Secondly, by providing a ‘floor level fund’ for Democracies in Funding of Political Parties and
everyone, state fund scheme is critical for smaller Election Campaigns: A Handbook of Political
and newer political entrants. For various factors, Finance: 254-292
India has seen a huge proliferation of political Ohman M., 2015. Sweden in Norris, Abel and Fennis
parties, formed on ethnic, religious and other (eds.), Checkbook Elections: Political Finance
parochial grounds. However, due to growing costs in Comparative Perspectives, London: Oxford
of elections, many of them find it difficult to put University Press
up a decent campaign. It is here the public funding Sen A., 2014. Elections to boost ad revenue of
of elections, especially if that is channelised technology and social media firms, Livemint,
through candidates, can come very handy to March 14.
promote competition for candidature and can Smith A.B., 1997. The Siren’s Song: Campaign
bring internal democracy within these parties. Finance Regulation and the First Amendment,
Public funding, if adequately implemented, can Journal of Law and Policy, 6(1)
strengthen lower levels of party units, helping Sreedharan E., 2002. Reforming Political Finance,
them to demand democratisation. It can therefore Seminar Magazine: 506
solve the problem of concentration of power in Vaishnav M., When Crime Pays, Money and Muscle in
the hands of few and creation of dynastic politics. Indian Politics, HarpersCollins, Delhi 2017.
Importantly, if public funding is used as a lever, Walecki M., K. Casas-Zamora, O. Genckaya, D.
it can help the state in securing compliance from Ammar, C. Sarkis-Hanna, K. Ekmekji-Boladian
parties on all these issues. and E. Ahmed Elobaid, 2009. Public Funding
Solutions for Political Parties in Muslim-
references Majority Societies, International Foundation for
Carlson M., 2015. Japan, in Norris, Abel and Fennis Electoral Systems.
(eds.), Checkbook Elections: Political Finance Zamora K.C., 2008. Political finance and State funding
in Comparative Perspectives, London: Oxford systems: An overview, Brookings Institution.
University Press Zamora K.C., 2005. State Funding and Finance
Committee on Standards in Public Life, 2011. Political Practices: The Case of Uruguay in Paying for
Party Finance. Ending the Big Donor Culture. Democracy: Political Finance and State Funding
London: TSO CM 8208. for Parties: 158-190, European Consortium for
Dworkin R., 1996. The Curse of American Political Research Press.
Politics, New York Review of Books, 43:16.
Rawls J., 1993. Political Liberalism, New York: The author is a Senior Fellow with Observer Research
Columbia University Press. Foundation. niranjansahoo@orfonline.org
GeOGraphy and yOu OctOber 1 - 15 2018 13In con v er s at Ion
India’s electoral integrity suffers in the areas of
campaign finance and media coverage
O P Rawat, Chief Election Commissioner of India, speaks with G’nY on the feasibility of simultaneous
elections, state funded elections and the shortcomings of our electoral system.
The Election Commission has been
proposing various reforms that will
help clean up the political system.
14 OctOber 1 - 15 2018 GeOGraphy and yOu issue 7G’nY. What are your views on holding But the second logistical factor—the When we gained Independence, the
simultaneous elections throughout number of personnel required, puts us British offered their services to help
India? Why are they desirable, and at an advantage. The same number of us run the country. But we declined
if they are, is it feasible to conduct personnel will be deployed for both the and I do not think we are regretting
simultaneous elections? elections, be it for polling management, that decision. The same thing holds
The Election Commission (EC) has or for security. The largest benefit we good here. Our voters have come of
often been asked about the possibility will get from simultaneous elections will age. Much of the expert advice that is
of simultaneous elections and what be political. When elections will be held offered to them is not needed, as they
would be the requirements for the once every five years, the executive will are well aware of their interests. All
same. Firstly, a legal framework has get dedicated four and a half years to arguments about political culture do not
to be developed. Amendments need to deliver to the electorate. Political will is hold, as far as the voting behaviour is
be made to the Constitution and to the concerned. I will give you one example
Representation of People Act, 1951 and to substantiate my point. The EC has an
Unless we have a peaceful
then logistical requirements need to be enforcement machinery that keeps track
met. Since the legal framework has not political environment, of all the happenings when elections
yet been put in place, the Commission are taking place. I remember, in one of
which is possible only if
is continuing with conducting elections the constituencies where voting was
whenever they are due—Madhya elections are not held again ongoing, we discovered that over INR
Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, 90 crores was being distributed to the
Mizoram and Telangana will face
and again, we cannot have electorate. When we were seizing the
elections soon. For now, elections to the development we need. money, one voter objected. He pointed
state assemblies will be held in these out that we were mistaken in believing
states. In case the legal framework hampered in many ways if elections keep that voters elect the parties that pay
is put in place in the future, we will happening every now and then. This can them. While they did take money, they
go ahead with holding simultaneous never be conducive for development. voted for the candidates or parties they
elections, as was the case with the Unless we have a peaceful political felt were delivering on their promises.
elections of 1952, 1957, 1962 and 1967. environment, which is possible only if This distilled wisdom from our voters
Logistical issues will need to be dealt elections are not held again and again, we shows that we should have full faith in
with too. First, we will need a larger cannot have the development we need. them. All these technicalities—whether
number of electronic voting machines we hold simultaneous or separate
(EVMs) than we currently have—at G’nY. Various objections are elections—cannot influence them.
least twice the current number—one being raised against the idea of
set for Lok Sabha and the other for simultaneous elections. Considering G’nY. Another issue is that of
state assemblies. Since the durability the diverse needs and demands state funding of elections. In the
of EVMs is 15 years, they can only be of the voter, do you think it will last few years, both national and
used for three simultaneous elections. be better to let the current regional parties have increased
The costing thus needs to be considered. system continue? their funds exponentially and there
GeOGraphy and yOu OctOber 1 - 15 2018 15is no transparency as to where they digital means and cash contributions happen with an EVM. Examples of votes
are receiving these funds from. Is should be restricted. Therefore, the cap going to a party that a voter had not
it possible firstly, to provide for on cash donation, which stood at INR chosen are figments of imagination. All
direct monetary funding from the 20,000, was suggested to be reduced to these allegations have been answered
state and secondly, indirectly, can INR 2,000, which the government has comprehensively by the EC in our EVM
equitable allocation of time on radio, executed. We are now progressing to Status Paper, which can be read on
television, etc. be enabled to place a complete prohibition on our website.
all parties? cash donations.
There are two aspects to this. The first G’nY. There is a spatial variation of
is, of course, the indirect way, which is G’nY. The issue of EVM tampering voting behaviour. West Bengal, for
to say, equitable allocation of air time has been brought up in the recent example had a high voter turnout
for campaigns. This is a good thing past. Multiple allegations, across as compared to Bihar. What are
because if the EC allocates the air time party lines, have been raised your views?
and the telecast time, it will provide and there are news reports of There are many factors that affect
support to all those parties that are not malfunctioning EVMs. Can EVMs voting behaviour. For example, in
able to acquire contributions from the malfunction, even if tampering has the recent Karnataka elections, we
corporate sector. However, the other not occurred? found that the lowest voting occurred
aspect is to check the abuse of money. in Bengaluru. What should we make
There state funding will fail miserably. of it? There is relatively lesser
The money that will be distributed will unemployment and illiteracy in the
hardly suffice, say, INR 15-20 lakhs city. In fact, it is the IT hub of our
per constituency. Take a look at what country, with considerable population
the actual expenditure is—candidates being on the younger side. Still, the
have reportedly spent up to INR 90 voting percentage was as low as 52,
Examples of votes going
crores in a single constituency. This despite all our efforts. What the EC
is the main worry, as our electoral to a party that a voter had learnt from its analysis is that firstly,
integrity perception suffers. Harvard we are not yet responsible citizens. If
not chosen are figments
University’s electoral integrity project you are registered at a place as a voter
places us in the higher ranks among of imagination. and migrate to another place, it is
world’s democracies and our scores your duty to ensure that your name is
in areas like autonomy to the body deleted from the original electoral roll
managing the elections, electoral laws, EVM malfunction is not of the kind and is registered in the new location.
procedures and counting are high. But where if you press the button for one The EC is always trying to enrol as
this is not enough. We score quite low party, the vote goes to another. What many people as is possible, but
in the areas of campaign finance and may, however, happen is that the EVM what this does is that it erroneously
media coverage, be it print, electronic, does not work and displays an error, or increases the number of registered
or social media. The EC wants to help the ballot does not load. We replace the voters. Consider the example of
clean up the political system. We have machines whenever these issues come Bengaluru again. People move to the
submitted several reform proposals up. In the new machines that we are city, change jobs and move again, but
and are in the process of submitting using, a voter verified paper audit trail is they do not get their names removed
more. Take the example of political printed. At times, it may happen that the from the electoral roll. This results in
funding. We felt that all contributions voter does not receive a print out. These an inflation in the voters list and when
to political parties should be through are the kinds of malfunctioning that may we count the number of votes cast,
16 OctOber 1 - 15 2018 GeOGraphy and yOu issue 7the eventual voter turnout is bound to a scenario of 52 per cent voter turnout, under one constituency, we need
be low. when votes are distributed, a candidate to develop the means that can help
The second factor affecting voter who gets even 17 per cent of the vote representatives. Greater air time on the
behaviour is migration. People might wins. Whereas, a much larger number radio or television, for example, where
be travelling or may be engaged of people than the actual voters might both private and public media can be
somewhere which can result in the be opposed to the winning candidate, roped in. Right now we only have All
inability to vote. Third is awareness. or may have been indifferent to him or India Radio and Doordarshan for this,
In states like West Bengal, North- her. This deficit takes a heavy toll on which do not have comprehensive
Eastern and Southern states, the voter the performance of the government and coverage. If we bring in the private
is well aware of the issues and the something needs to be done to reduce media and invest some money for
importance of voting. In fact, in Kerala, this. There are various alternatives that allocating air time to representatives,
many polling stations have as much can be considered. Mixed member then to some extent, the problem of
as 90 per cent voter turnout. On the proportional representation, like in reaching out to voters in constituencies
other hand, in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar Germany, may be one. But all of these can be addressed.
and Jharkhand, the awareness level is are in the realm of policies and laws that
not very high. Poverty too plays some need to be enacted by the Parliament. G’nY. India has a large number of
role in voter turnout—people do not We are nowhere close to having a law political parties as of today. Do you
want to sacrifice on their wage earning that enables this. think it would be a good idea to have a
opportunity, for what is considered to two-party system like the US?
be a completely non-productive work- G’nY. Will we see a new delimitation I do not think that we should be looking
going to a polling booth and standing and state-wise seat allocation based at the issue of two-party system
in queue. I will add here that even caste on population figures, after 2026? from this perspective—whether
does not affect broader patterns. It is How urgently do we need this, this system is needed for a mature
only post-election interpretations that considering the fact that population democracy is a different matter. Things
attempt to bring home the point that figures are becoming unwieldy and like this depend on what the people
caste still matters. See the case of it may be difficult for one member of need. Political parties grow from the
Bihar—people voted for Nitish Kumar parliament to cater to the needs of a soil. If there is a need felt among the
irrespective of their caste. population dense constituency? people, and they feel that they need to
I think the population wise seat associate themselves with a party, they
G’nY. The Indian voting system is allocation has served us well so far. As have every right to do so as a citizen
based on the idea of ‘first past the far the reallocation of seats based on of a democratic country. But it is only
post’. Do you think this system has population figures is concerned, it is when both the democracy and voters
outlived its utility? For example, likely to be pushed beyond 2026. Only mature, that the politicians mature. If
Germany has the mixed member when the Census publishes its results that happens, pruning will take place
proportional representation system, in 2031, will we have the results to by itself and we will reduce the number
where two votes are cast so that conduct delimitation. At first just the of parties. But these things are at a very
the individual candidates as well as preliminary results are made available. nascent stage in India. Our democracy
parties get adequate representation. Further nuanced results will take more is only 70 years old, whereas the USA
I will answer this question in my time. So delimitation will only be democratic system spans hundreds
personal capacity. What I feel is that feasible one decade after 2026. Coming of years. We will eventually have a
the democratic deficit in first past back to the question of reallocation, process that will bring the party system
the post system is huge. I will return and how a member of parliament can to order. But for now, we will have to
again to the example of Bengaluru. In reach out to a large population covered wait for it.
GeOGraphy and yOu OctOber 1 - 15 2018 17You can also read
