Smaller constituencies with longer campaigning period are more likely to curb the negative influence of money in politics in comparison to putting a cap on the expenditure limit. Critically Analyse.
Refer – The Hindu
IAS Parliament 7 years
KEY POINTS
· The Union Government fix ceilings on election expenditure based on the recommendations of Election commission.
· This is intended to curtail money power in elections.
Issues
· Given the size of constituencies (both in area and the number of voters), a candidate requires an army of workers during the campaign period.
· Even if a campaign decides to pay the current minimum wage for agricultural labourers to each of its workers during the entire campaign period the candidate would end up exceeding the expenditure limit.
· At the same time, the Election Commission (EC) allows only 14 days of official campaigning, which ends 48 hours before the scheduled close of polling.
· The fact that parties do not finalise their nominations for most constituencies until the very end puts pressure on candidates to mobilise votes as quickly as possible.
· These constraints forces candidates to spend huge sums of money illegally on cash, liquor and gifts to yield more votes on a short scale of time.
· Competitive populism in Indian politics has led to the development of an “ante-up quid pro quo” system, with politicians and parties forced to put money and goods into the pot before they could play a hand.
· This is amplified by limited campaigning periods and the humongous size of constituencies.
Solutions
· Without reforms in campaign periods and size of constituencies, measures taken to reduce influence of money stands inefficient.
· Campaign finance reforms should begin by increasing the number of constituencies and the duration of the official campaign period.
· Smaller constituencies with longer campaigning period are more likely to curb the negative influence of money in politics in comparison to putting a cap on the expenditure limit.
