Campaign Finance

Political parties in India can spend in an election or on any candidate, as much money as they want. There is no cap whatsoever, and that is how the parties want it, such is their unanimity on this point. But the Election Commission wants things to change so as to root out money power from elections and ensure a level playing field for all candidates. It has been heavy going for the EC against vested political interest at all levels. So far the EC has managed to put caps on expenditure by candidates — Rs 50-70 lakh for Lok Sabha constituency and Rs 20-28 lakh for assembly constituency. In August last, the EC tapped political parties whether they would accept expenditure caps. The BJP demurred, arguing that political campaigns are run on agendas, which could require any amount of money — so attempts at setting limits would confine agendas to issues like caste, apart from individual influence of candidates coming into play. The EC now reportedly wants parties to fork out to their candidates not more than half the candidate’s allowed election expenses. As per EC figures carried by media, BJP spent Rs 135 crore for Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections last year, Congress 51 crore and BSP Rs 1.2 crore; for the 2017 elections in UP, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur, BJP spent Rs 218 crore, BSP Rs 40 crore and AAP Rs 12 crore. As for the five States that went to the polls recently, preliminary data from reported RTI queries show that political parties in total received nearly Rs 1,000 crore in donations made through election bonds. Ex-CEC OP Rawat is among those worried about how such bonds could make election funding more opaque — primarily money from dubious sources routed through corporates (which have been freed from cap on donating more than 7.5% of average net profit over previous 3 years), and keeping ordinary voters (probably not the government) in the dark about who is funding which party. While poll results from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh have been hogging the headlines, it is the elections in Mizoram that need be appreciated for clean practices. Thanks to a church initiative since 2006 to keep out underground elements, Mizo civil society groups have been campaigning against unethical tactics and throwing around money during elections. At the vanguard has been Mizo People’s Forum (MPF), supported by influential groups like Young Mizo Association (YMA), Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl (HMIP) and Zoram Upa Pawl (ZUP). ‘Partnership agreements’ are struck up with political parties to cooperate with a list of do’s and don’ts for candidates, like ban on cash handouts, holding feasts and splurging on publicity material. Through community participation, care is taken to see that candidates are not pushed into debt through wasteful expenditure. This is one model other States ought to appreciate and adapt suitably. Blatant misuse of official machinery and money power in panchayat elections in Assam is but a recent case of how corrupted the election process has become across the country.

Sindhu Settles It

Always the bridesmaid, never the bride, my foot! — thus joked Peter O’Toole accepting an Oscar for lifetime achievement in 2003. With record 8 Academy Award nominations for best actor in leading role, memorable turns as Lawrence of Arabia, Mr Chips, King Henry II, food critic Anton Ego (voiced) and other standout performances, O’Toole remained star-crossed when it came to the Oscars. His legacy secure as one of the greatest actors ever, O’Toole could afford to take a gentle dig at himself when handed the honorary “lovely bugger”. Had he wished to, he could have blamed his luck on majority of 8,000 plus votes in the Academy not going his way time after time. Not so PV Sindhu, currently ranked 6th in women’s badminton and a proven giant killer in an individual game. She had fallen short in so many finals, snide attacks were being mounted whether she had a liking for silver, or worse, whether she was a ‘choker’ on the big stage, like South Africa in Cricket World Cups. It is tough for a player to go up against redoubtable adversaries the media dubs as her or his ‘nemesis’. Sindhu, in this World Tour Finals at Guangzhou, managed to ‘decode’ in the quarters World Number 1 Tai Tzu Ying’s so far unreadable game. She had lost in her previous six outings to the Chinese Taipei virtuoso; her latest success lifts her tally against Tai to just 4 wins in 14 matches. Having already dispatched World No. 2 and defending champion Akane Yamaguchi in the opener, things were looking good for Sindhu in the semis where she took down Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand. In the final, up against 2017 world champion Nozomi Okuhara, Sindhu also had an inner mountain to scale. She had finished runners-up in seven finals last two years running — 2016 Rio Olympics, two World Championships in 2017 and 2018, World Tour Finals 2017, and this year at Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and Thailand Open. So on winning the crown last Sunday after an unbeaten run through the tournament, a relieved Sindhu exulted: “No one can say I don’t win finals. I think the question won’t come again to me, asking why all the time I lose in the finals”. Doubters would do well to keep in mind the words of Thomas Briels, captain of the splendid Belgian team that put behind many past disappointments to lift their maiden Hockey World Cup at Bhubaneshwar. “We lost our share of finals,” he pointed out, adding that sometimes you have to lose one final to win another.