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Polity

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November 16, 2017

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

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IAS Parliament 6 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.

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