The Great Indian Elections and the AAP Factor

Delhi elections are coming near. I don't know what the results will be but there are good chances of a great battle between the two political parties namely the Bhartiya Janta Party and the Aam Aadmi Party. We are the biggest democracy on this planet and we have evolved a lot in conducting elections. It is a very good thing for the democracy. Elections work as pressure releasing valves for the citizens. Most mornings start where news headlines annoy us due to the wrong doings of the Government. We get angry but continue drinking our tea and leave for work. When we come back home in the night, we feel good to see news anchors bashing the Government. Few days are good where we get to watch some Indian achievement in a specific field or we are busy catching sports or a movie but rest is the same. It remains exactly the same, it doesn't change. The frustration doesn't go it just stacks up in the background. The election day comes and we cast our vote and change the Government. The vicious cycle may start again but elections helps in relieving our frustration and anger each and every time. Every time we try to seek who have better plans and who is less tainted.

With the question of taints, the primary reason is still associated with corruption. Whenever we talk of corruption, we should understand the root cause of corruption in India. Our constitution was heavily inspired from British Constitution so is our Electoral System. So same set of rules were applied in our country but there remained a glitch which was the sheer size of India compared to Britain. In Britain, you don't need a very large amount of money to contest election. Constituencies are smaller compared to India. When we talk of India, the constituencies are too large and the limit for expenditure on election campaigns is very less. Currently it is 70 lakhs for bigger states and 40 lakhs for smaller states per constituency (for LokSabha elections). Lets first try to think if this amount's upper limit is enough. A small meeting of a thousand people will need a lakh rupees or more to be well-managed. Think as an entrepreneur and imagine how many rallies and road shows are done and how much would it be costing. To carry out the campaigning job, you will have to setup a team and pay them. The job is very extensive from designing, printing and sticking pamphlets to door-to-door visits stating the candidate's presence. The entire work will be carried out on rental vehicles which need fuel and you know how costly fuel is. Next, your staff needs coffee, drinking water and few other perks. Loudspeakers, Posters, Cut-out they all require money. And finally tons and tons of advertisements in every possible mass communication medium like Radio, TV, newspapers. Nowadays one more segment has added Social Media presence. The campaign requires all these activities to happen for maximum possible days to establish candidate's presence and convey his/her plans for the constituency. Try to sum up this expenditure into number of days. Do you think that you can do a campaign in 40 lakhs? Just check the rate of a newspaper front page advertisement and you will know this amount may be enough for few days or even less.

So we have a fundamental problem but how corruption is associated with it, is still not clear. Now suppose one needs to contest elections, what that person do ? That person will be taking undisclosed amount of money from several elements of the society. If that person gets elected then those elements will ask for favors in return. So, rules will be broken or bypassed to facilitate those elements. Next, you need money for next elections as well. So you will allow a nexus of corruption in the Government machinery so that money under the table flows freely in the system and you get your periodic share. The initial need soon becomes greed and you start hoarding more money and Government machinery gets more junked. So, you can understand, to contest an election independently in India you need to be rich person first. To establish a successful political party and run it for years, you require much more money. The undisclosed money contributes to the black money economy which runs in parallel to the white money economy in our nation.

Suppose we would have elected those people who can transparently state that who funded them and how much; Will things would be different in such a scenario ? Possibly, Yes. If that elected candidate tried to help those who funded him then they will come into the scanner sooner or later. Public can select such a candidate who can show his/her funding and have honest intentions. That person needs not to work for allocating funds for next term because for next election as well that candidate will ask for donation. Fair game. Is such a system works ? The biggest example is the oldest democracy, the United States. The election commission funds the candidate to a limit and for more expenses they have to get their funding though donations and other channels, every penny of which needs to be disclosed to the public. When Barack Obama contested elections, anyone who liked his ideas and want to contribute his campaign, was able to donate with as small amount as $1 through different medium like cheques, cash or online transfer. There were big funding from corporate giants but everything was made public. If we check the least corrupt nations list by Transparency International, United States stands at 17th position and India stands at 85th position. Though a time-bound and powerful judiciary is also responsible for United States' example but the electoral system is its solid foundation.

[ Transparency International Link ]

Lets come back to New Delhi. The emergence of Aam Aadmi Party happened on the premise of a anti-corruption movement. This party is less than 2 year old but has seen lot of up and downs and received an extreme mix of praise as well as criticism. This party showcases candidates from the public itself, these candidates are fueled by emotions and have done silly things in past and even supported silly policies few of which doesn't make sense. But there is one thing right, which no other party did and that thing is the transparent funding mechanism of this party. You get a receipt when you donate to AAP and this information is publicly available. This is a big factor which could change the mechanism of contesting elections in India and the tree of corruption can be weaken from roots and may be uprooted as well. We need parties which can show how much money they have and how they spend it and the sources from which they received it. Election Commission should raise the upper limit to many folds and if possible compel the parties to reveal their sponsors.

Is AAP doing everything right on the transparency perspective ?
Not totally. They have been served notice by the Election Commission on Nov 28, 2014 to file their Lok Sabha election expenditures. Usually it has to be done within 90 days of elections and AAP is yet to declare all the details to the Election Commission. BJP and Congress also have been sent the notice. In past few weeks they filed the expenditure. The BJP and Congress declared the expenditure to be Rs 714 crore and Rs 516 crore respectively in 2014 general elections and recent assembly polls in various states. How much money was spent is not the big question. The big question is what the sources of this money were.

[ a) EC's list of political parties with their expenditure : Link 
b) EC's Public Notice : Link ]
 
If AAP wins Delhi election then more parties will emerge with same funding mechanism. This will force the veteran parties to set up such a system. So, the whole politics can change. Another important thing is that an efficient system should be an equal set of checks and balances. If there is a powerful political force in the nation, there should be good counter intuitive force as well else anarchy will occur because power corrupts everyone, it's just a matter of time.

Advice to the Aam Aadmi Party :
- Try not to play blame games in campaign and tell more about your plans  & key ideas.
- If you can showcase the sources of your funds, please audit & file your expenditures as well.
- Don't forget the Lokpal
- Don't get much emotional and do silly stuff. Be rational.

Advice to Haters of Aam Aadmi Party :
- People do mistakes. We are not perfect.
- AAP intentions are still intact.
- Any day if you do a corruption check, AAP is way clearer than anyone
- Yes, they are amateurs but they respond to public and accept their mistakes. Let them learn.

Let's check the ground report. The BJP has roped Kiran Bedi as their face of Delhi Elections and she will most likely become Chief Minister if BJP wins. But why BJP needed Kiran Bedi is question we should ask because there was hardly any honest candidate in the Delhi team. She can be a good administrator and has a proven record of it but if the team consists of people indulged in corruption then even a good leader can't do much. BJP is ruling the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for past 7 years and have messed up the basic necessities of the public. Arvind Kejriwal is at times impractical but his intentions are earnest and he is one of the most honest people in Indian politics. He deserves a second chance.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has to understand the point that corruption is still a major issue in India and if he want to govern & develop the nation with the idea he portrays then he has to tight his party in terms of a transparent funding grounds sooner or later.

Political parties competing with each other, each coming with a cleaner ground and portraying plans and ideas of nation's development is what any successful democracy needs. Hope our country experience such a politics in future. The pathway to that future is long and full of difficulties but I am hopeful, we will reach that point eventually.