With eight assembly elections to be held in 2018, we are likely to see intense campaigning all through the year. If the sound and fury of the Gujarat elections is to be replicated elsewhere — with the entire Union Cabinet perpetually on the move, besides serving BJP chief ministers such as Yogi Adityanath – it is likely to impact governance, more so when decision-making is concentrated at the very top. Such high octane campaigns are able to take place because of loopholes in the election funding rules.

The Election Commission has stipulated a limit of ₹48 lakh as a candidate’s expenditure in an Assembly election (the limit is ₹70 lakh for a Parliamentary election). Section 77 of the Representation of the People Act says that “the expenditure incurred by leaders of a political party on account of travel by air or by any other means of transport for propagating the programme of the political party” will not be considered part of a candidate’s expenditure. The law also says a recognised political party can enlist 40 such leaders in an election. With centralised, personality-centric, visual-media-driven campaigning becoming the norm, a lot of the campaign expenditure tends to escape the ₹48 lakh cap. In fact, the kind of campaign money spent by major political parties nowadays has rendered these caps meaningless.

Controls on election spending should be exercised by screening donations rather than expenditures. The ₹2,000 cap on individual cash donations is not sufficient to ensure accountability. Details of those donating more than this sum should be made available to the income tax authorities. Loopholes such as anonymity in election bonds should be done away with. This will change the way election campaigns are conducted, bringing down the role of money. The RPA Act can be amended to do away with candidate-specific caps.

Above all, governments can focus on governance, leaving the job of campaigning to political parties.

Senior Deputy Editor

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