State poll funding: Parties say plan not fool-proof yet

Consensus eluded the all-party meeting on state funding of elections, with key UPA ally, the CPIM, opposing the proposal in its present fo...

Consensus eluded the all-party meeting on state funding of elections, with key UPA ally, the CPIM, opposing the proposal in its present form outright and the BJP joining issue with the Congress over the expenditure limit for election candidates.

Following the half-day long discussion on the government proposal based on the Indrajit Gupta Committee report, Chief Election Commissioner B B Tandon said all political parties welcomed the move for 8216;8216;partial state funding8217;8217; for polls. 8216;8216;But a majority8230; agreed that the present candidate expenditure ceiling of

Rs 10 lakh for Assembly and Rs 25 lakh for Parliament constituencies needed to be implemented stringently,8217;8217; he said.

Also, he added, there was 8216;8216;near unanimity8217;8217; on the issue of restricting political parties8217; poll expenditures instead of merely putting a limit on candidates.

Of the six national parties and 34 state parties that attended today8217;s meeting, the CEC found majority of the parties felt the proposed measures were not enough to restrict the role of money power in the elections.

He said the political parties also made demands for such facilities as free airtime on private TV channels as well as display in the print media.

CPIM8217;s Nilotpal Basu had the harshest words for the UPA proposal, saying the party would support the move only if the Indrajit Gupta Committee report was adopted in toto.

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The proposal in its present form, he said, would only benefit parties that hire helicopters to conduct their poll campaigns. 8216;8216;It cannot provide a level playing field because it fails to limit the political parties8217; expenditures. It would ultimately be a drag on the public exchequer.8217;8217;

CPI national secretary D. Raja, however, supported the move as 8216;8216;a good initiative8217;8217;. But he also emphatically noted that state funding must 8216;8216;be restricted to the conduct of elections and not go towards maintaining party headquarters and attendant expenses8217;8217;.

On the issue of fixing the limit of expenditure of candidates, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi differed with the Cabinet proposal and favoured allowing parties to spend more on the candidates.

The BJP opposed the Congress view on the ground that it would defeat the purpose of providing a level playing field. At present, there is no restriction on the expenditures of political parties; the limit is only applicable to candidates.

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The EC has asked the parties to provide written submissions within a week so it can formulate its views before forwarding its recommendations to the government.