Election Integrity |
Elections in our country are often described as the largest democratic exercise in human history, and the numbers alone justify that claim. Nearly a billion citizens are eligible to vote, supported by millions of polling staff and security personnel spread across every corner of the country. The logistical scale is staggering: ballots and electronic voting machines must reach remote villages, mountain hamlets, and island communities, ensuring that no citizen is denied the right to participate.
More than a million polling booths are set up, each requiring staff, security, and logistical support. In some regions, polling officials trek through forests or sail across rivers to ensure that even the smallest hamlet is included. Citizens themselves show remarkable commitment: elderly voters being carried to booths, villagers walking miles in the heat to cast their ballot. Participation is not the problem; it is the integrity of the process that is under strain. Campaign financing operates under a complex legal framework, but loopholes abound. The Representation of the People Act sets expenditure limits for candidates ~ Rs 95 lakh for Lok Sabha contests in larger states and Rs 40 lakh in smaller ones ~ yet political parties face no such restrictions.
This imbalance allows parties to spend hundreds of crores on rallies, advertising, logistics, and digital campaigns, drowning out smaller voices and independent candidates. Campaigns now resemble corporate marketing exercises, with helicopters ferrying leaders across constituencies, massive stages erected for rallies, and advertising blitzes dominating television and social media. For a candidate bound by expenditure limits, the contest is unequal from the start.
The introduction of electoral bonds in 2018 was intended to formalise donations, but it has instead enabled anonymous contributions of unlimited sums. Reports suggest that thousands of crores have flowed through this route, with the public left guessing about the source. Transparency, which is the lifeblood of electoral integrity, has been sacrificed at the altar of expediency. Critics argue that anonymity shields corporate donors and allows ruling parties to benefit disproportionately, while citizens are left in the dark about who funds whom. The Supreme Court has debated the issue, but reforms remain stalled. In effect, the system has created a parallel economy of influence, where money speaks louder than manifestos. The criminalisation of politics compounds this imbalance.
According to the Association for Democratic Reforms, more than 40 per cent of Members of Parliament face criminal cases, and nearly one in four face serious charges including murder,........