ADR Urges Stricter Rules on Parties, Poll Funding

New Delhi: India’s electoral democracy faces profound challenges from the pervasive influence of money, a new report by the Association for Democratic Reforms has said, calling for a comprehensive law to regulate political parties, stricter disclosure norms for donations, and stronger powers to the Election Commission to curb the influence of money in elections.The report titled ‘Political Finance in India: Assessment and Recommendations’ identified seven key limitations – dominance of money and muscle power; lack of internal democracy within parties; absence of statutory backing to EC rules; inability of EC to deregister defaulting parties; evasion of Right to Information (RTI) scrutiny; flouting of existing laws by contestants; and lack of political will to implement reforms.These systemic weaknesses enable financial opacity and unaccountable campaign financing, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said.The report by the NGO recommended enacting a comprehensive political parties’ law to regulate finances, internal democracy, and leadership accountability, and empowering the Election Commission (EC) to de-recognise or deregister parties that fail to comply with financial disclosure or court directives.It also recommended bringing political parties under the ambit of the RTI Act, and define bribery and freebies as corrupt practices under the Representation of the People Act, 1951.On political funding, the report proposed imposing limits on private donations and mandating full disclosure of donors, including the parent companies behind electoral trusts.It also recommended banning anonymous and cash donations and requiring all political contributions to be made through digital transactions.It called for independent audits of party accounts verified by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and said the audit reports must be made public.To reduce dependence on private funding, the report suggested public funding of polls, adopting objective and transparent criteria for public funding of political parties, including vote or seat-based funding models, and incentives for parties that promote women and underrepresented groups in electoral politics.The report also stressed the need for stricter enforcement of campaign expenditure limits for both political parties and candidates.The suggestions on strengthening the EC called for aligning the appointment process of election commissioners with the Supreme Court’s 2023 directive, legally empowering the EC to countermand elections in cases of money power abuse, and enhancing capacity building and stakeholder dialogue for effective electoral management.Monetary penalties and loss of tax exemptions for non-compliance or falsified disclosures, authorising the EC to withdraw financial privileges of defaulting parties, and maintaining a public database of sanctions and penalties to ensure accountability were also among the recommendations.



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