Campaign Finance Reforms in India: Issues and Challenges

ORF Seminar Series
Association for Democratic Reforms, New Delhi). Some of the key
observations which emerged at the conference were:
• Rising Campaign Expenditure: The key issue highlighted by the
academics, political leaders and observers of election funding was the
rising graph of campaign expenditure. It was stated that this was driven
by a "business proposition" that the prevalent political system in the
country offered. Incurring excess amounts of expenditure was seen as a
desperate attempt by most candidates to win the elections at any cost as
it not only offered a chance to recover the amount at a later date, but to
also earn manifold income if elected.
• State Funding Counter-productive?: Senior representatives advising
the Election Commission categorically held that though state funding
was acceptable in principle, it could be counter-productive as it could
become a source of more funds for the parties without accountability
and transparency. It would alienate the candidates from the people they
claim to represent, which is already a major obstacle to genuine
representation. The Election Commission, during a recent raid,
recovered ` 12 crore in cash and ` 32 lakh litres of illicit liquor. Also,
hashish, opium and other drugs, being offered as inducements to voters,
have been recovered during raids—showing how distant political
parties have become from the actual issues on the ground.
• Lack of Political Will: Political parties across the board are not
interested in genuine reforms; such reforms would essentially be a
threat to the prevalent political structure which suits their needs. The
absence of a law on disclosure of expenditure by political parties has
become a major reason for unaccounted funds. Furthermore, the
provision that donations less than ` 20,000 need not be disclosed was
being abused as a cover for illegal sourcing of funds; while declaring that
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