By Kartik
Lokhande
Electoral
reforms have been a topic of continuing debate over the years in India.
Sometimes, the issue of funding gets prominence. Sometimes, issues pertaining
to manifestos are pushed to centre-stage of debate. However, every time, not
much of ‘action’ takes places, except for framing of guidelines.
The
latest case relates to failure of political parties in fulfilling their
pre-poll promises made in their manifestos. In reply to a query made under Right
to Information Act, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has made it clear
that it has ‘no power’ to take action against political parties failing to
deliver on the election promises. Stating that it has framed guidelines to be
followed by parties for election manifesto, ECI has ‘urged’ political parties
to desist from making ‘such’ commitments.
This is
not the first time that the issue of political parties failing to keep their
promises made to voters during pre-poll campaign, has cropped up. What was
initially an exercise of informing the voters about ideology, priorities, and thoughts
on major policies, later reneged into making specific promises to certain
castes, religions, economic sections to win votes. Manifestos of some of the
political parties, especially regional parties, have deteriorated into books of
promises without giving a thought to the aspect of how those promises could be
fulfilled if these parties come to power.
Some
political parties that have become fiefdoms of certain families even go to the
extent of offering ‘freebies’. This practice is prevalent particularly in the
southern parts of the country, and some northern states. To win over the votes,
the parties there offer free television sets, tablets, laptop computers, mobile
phone sets, bicycles and what not. Some parties promise these things very
openly with an intention to make political statement of supremacy. Some, like
that happens in almost every part of the country, dole out liquor, sarees,
motorcycles, money, to those promising ‘bunch of votes’.
Of
course, some of these promises are included in manifestos and many are not. In
the chaos, voters also start getting carried away by promises of freebies instead
of becoming more and more aware of policy issues of larger public interest and
national good. As a fallout of such ill practice that has crept into the electoral
system, citizens often get divided into factions of voters supporting one party
or another. Ultimately, this results into blind opposition to good work of ‘another’
political party in power; or, blind support to even the appeasement policies of
‘own’ party in power. Believe it or not, but it all starts with deterioration
of all-important document called manifesto, the pre-election vision document of
political parties.
In many
cases, if a particular political party comes to power, it offers contracts of
important Government works to its bunch of supporters-cum-financiers. This
takes one into the realm of electoral funding, another oft-debated issue
pertaining to electoral reforms. Barring two main national parties, almost all
declared their opposition to corporate funding of elections. While some support
the idea of State funding of elections, some pick holes in it.
Whether
to support corporate funding or not, or how to regulate it, but one thing is
clear – no corporate entity offers election funding to a political party unless
it expects some reward once that party comes to power. However, as a corporate
house funding a particular political party suffered victimisation during the
rule of another party, the corporate have now set up electoral trusts and some
have even devised own formulae to offer funding to all major political parties.
In both
the cases – failure to keep promises made in manifestos to public, and keeping unwritten
promises made to financiers – the Election Commission of India is helpless.
What it can do best is to frame guidelines and issue appeals to political
parties to follow those. And, more or less, the decisive citizenry in a
democracy – voters – is to be blamed for this.
For, a majority
of voters get carried away by freebies and do not make any effort to think how the
parties will collect enough funds to fulfill the promise of freebies. For, a
majority of even the educated voters think along the lines of appeasement of
their own community as outlined in manifestos, and do not make any effort to
think how divides of caste or religion or group further the larger national
interest.
Unless
the voters get matured in thinking, no electoral reform can take place strengthening
the true spirit of democracy. Unless this happens, no democratic nation can bloom
to its full potential. And, if it does not happen, what occupies public place
will be only endless debates on manifestos, promises, freebies etc.
(15-06-15)
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