The Chief Information Commissioner’s ruling that political parties will now come under the ambit of the RTI, since they are also public funded bodies, could transform the electoral process in India. Lifting the cloak of secrecy from sources of funding of political parties and their expenditure the CIC ruled that they are public authorities who now need to respond to RTI queries within six weeks. The Commission in a 54-page order said six national parties the Congress, BJP, NCP, CPI-M, CPI and BSP have been substantially funded, even if indirectly, by the central government and hence should be able to answer how they received their funds from all sources. Interestingly the Congress party was the first to pooh-pooh the CIC’s order saying that such “adventurist” approach would harm democratic institutions. Congress general secretary, Janardhan Dwivedi did not, however, explain what is ‘adventurist’ about revealing the Party’s sources of funding. Now that the whole issue has been prised open by the media, it transpires that all major political parties including the Communists do not reveal the names of their major donors. Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party is the only political party that has welcomed the CIC’s move. The AAP keeps a record of all the funds it receives from individuals, organisations and corporates that choose to fund it.
Elections in India have become exorbitant since candidates and political parties have access to slush funds they don’t need to account for. Even in the small states of the North Eastern region, candidates and political parties spend lavishly on wooing voters. While there is a spending limit for candidates there is no cap on the amount that political parties can spend during elections. This is a major flaw in the Chief Election Commission’s rule book. It allows a candidate to hide behind the party when money has actually come from other questionable sources. In states that do not generate any revenue, the government in power diverts money from government schemes or from bribes paid by big business sharks for being granted major projects. This happened in Meghalaya o the eve of the 2008 assembly elections when the Congress party inked several power projects with amorphous power generation companies. At one time the public distribution system (PDS) was the main source of funding for political parties in our State. It continues, albeit in a smaller scale. The CIC order, it is hoped will bring in some salutary effect in the manner that political parties conduct themselves.