The Role of Money in India’s Elections: How Effective Is the Political Finance Regime?

Abstract

Political finance does play a positive role in democratic regimes as it enables parties to strengthen their organizations and also run a dynamic electoral campaign. However, for the well-being of electoral democracies, it is imperative that political party funding/campaign finance is neither illegal nor illicit. Violation of political finance-related regulations erodes the citizens’ confidence in the fairness of the electoral system and also weakens trust in political parties. Like other democracies, India also faces the challenge of the infusion of big money, a large component of which remains unaccounted, corroding the fairness of what is otherwise a robust electoral system. The efforts of the Election Commission of India (ECI) to enforce a stringent political finance regime with the help of existing electoral laws, enforcement agencies and judicial intervention have so far met with limited success in checking the illegal and illicit money inflow and large-scale unaccounted expenditure. The task has been difficult due to perceived apathy of political parties, inadequate regulations and enforcement powers with the ECI.