State funding of polls: Tandon finds loopholes in proposal

Returning the proposal with another set of recommendations, Tandon said ‘‘a wholistic view is required’’ to address all issues, from political donations to the existing ceiling on poll expenditure.

One of the reasons the Commission cited for returning the proposal, as half-hearted and inadequate to address the rot, was ‘‘lack of consensus’’ on the issue among political parties.

‘‘The voices (at the all-party meeting) were too divergent and there was no consensus. If one party said there should be no state funding, another said polls should be completely funded by the state,’’ Tandon said. Taking quite a critical view of the proposal seeking to fund the poll expenditure of candidates of recognised political parties while keeping the parties out of the loop, he said, ‘‘This kind of partial funding (of the elections) is no solution unless political parties make their accounts transparent.’’

Without a ‘‘wholistic view’’ in which the political parties opt for a transparent system of donations through cheques, state funding of elections would not have the desired result of cleaning up the electoral system. While it fails to address ‘‘loopholes in the existing system’’ the proposal serves to put additional pressure on the exchequer, he said.

Political parties are allowed to accept cash donations upto Rs 30,000, beyond which cheques have to be accepted. However, few political parties follow the rule.

‘‘There should be a ceiling on expenditure of political parties in the elections and that needs to be implemented strictly. In absence of that the role of money and muscle power is unlikely to go,’’ Tandon added.

On his term as EC, Tandon said, ‘‘From a macro-level management of polls, we have now shifted to a micro mode…as a result of which repolling, disruption or violence has been minimum in the last few polls.’’