The Election Commission and Law Commission have rightly rejected Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s push for public funding of elections. The issue has been discussed in the past and, in the present system, there is no guarantee that public funding will reduce use of unaccounted money. Politicians would happily accept the money and in addition use their personal funds. Before even thinking of public funding for elections a new system must emerge wherein every penny donated to political parties is made public. Presently, only donations above Rs 20,000 are made public, which means the bulk of the funding comes in packets that are below Rs 20,000 and no one knows the total. Secondly, all political parties must be brought under the RTI which would act as a check and balance against misuse of funds. Lastly, the limits set by the Election Commission of Rs 70 lakh per Lok Sabha constituency in bigger states and Rs 54 lakh in smaller states is ridiculously small. One may recall that Gopinath Munde had said that he spent Rs 8 crore on his election in 2009. Instead of curbing use of excess money, the limits have led to creative accounting. If we wish to have transparency in elections, then remove the artificial limits set by the EC and focus on source of funds.
