2009/04/20

Money is honey in a poll nominee’s book

Ranen Kumar Goswami
AssamNet

In a study titled “Citizens’ Report on governance and development 2008-09”, the National Social Watch Coalition informs us that only 173 MPs in the 14th Lok Sabha actually spoke on legislative issues while the House passed nearly 40 per cent of the Bill with less than one hour of debate.

In Timon of Athens Shakespeare calls money the common whore of mankind. In Act IV, Scene III, his protagoinst says, “this yellow slave/will knit and break religions, bless the accursed;/make the hoar leprosy adored, place thieves/and give them title, knee and approbation/with senators on the bench: This is it/that makes the wappen’d widow wed again;/she, whom the spital-house and ulcerous sores/would cast the gorge at this embalms and spices/to the April day again.” The bard brilliantly illustrates how, through the medium of money, its possessor becomes what he or she is not.

Our vote-seekers know this pretty well even without reading Shakespeare and thus try to become what they know they are not. Enemies of the people become friends of the people undeserving candidates transform into deserving ones and those without any winning chances turn out to be the winners. But first things first. The cost of organising the largest democratic exercise on earth has skyrocketed, which is natural given the rise in number of voters, security expenses, sophistication of the polling process coupled with inflation. On May 9, 2004 just before the curtains fell on the last Lok Sabha elections, The Times of India carried a story on government poll-spend from 1967 to that year, taking 1967 as a base year the story also gave an inflation-adjusted amount against the actual poll-spend. According to it, in 1967 Lok Sabha polls the number of voters in the country was 250.2 million and expenditure on polls was Rs 1.8 crore; in 1971 the number of voters was 274 million, poll-spend was Rs 11.6 crore and the inflation-adjusted figure was Rs 10.1; in 1977 the number of voters was 321 million, the poll-spend was Rs 23 crore and the inflation-adjusted amount was Rs 11.4 crore; in 1980 the number of voters was 356 million, the poll-spend was Rs 54.8 crore and the inflation-adjusted amount was Rs 2.3 crore; in 1984 the number of voters was 379 million, poll-spend was Rs 81.5 crore and the inflation-adjusted amount was Rs 22.4 crore; in 1989 the number of voters was 498 million, poll-spend was Rs 154.2 crore and the inflation-adjusted amount was Rs 30.9 crore; in 1991 the number of voters was 511 million, poll-spend was Rs 359.1 crore and the inflation-adjusted amount was Rs 58.1 crore; in 1996 the number of voters was 592 million, poll-spend was Rs 597.3 crore and the inflation-adjusted amount was Rs 63 crore; in 1998 the number of voters was 605 million, poll-spend was Rs 666.2 crore and the inflation-adjusted amount was Rs 62.4 crore, in 1999 the number of voters was 619 million, poll-spend was Rs 880 crore and the inflation-adjusted amount was Rs 79.6 crore; and in 2004 the number of voters was 671 million, poll-spend was an estimated Rs 1,300 crore and the inflation-adjusted amount was Rs 103 crore. So till 2004, the government poll-spend shot up more than 60 times in 32 years with an adjustment in inflation, and if the inflation was not taken into account the poll-spend rose by more than 720 times.

How much poll-spend will go into the 2009 general elections? The exact amount will be learnt only after the elections. But going by earlier records and some fact-gathering exercises, the Centre for Media Studies (CMS) has made an estimate that the government poll-spend could be Rs 2,000 crore. And hold your breath! The political parties and candidates are likely to spend Rs 8,000 crore. According to a report titled “Alarming Trend of purchasing voters”, published by the Delhi-based NGO, one-fourth of this Rs 10,000 crore is likely to be in the form of unofficial money. At a time when several political bigwigs have gone under the Election Commission scanner for alleged distribution of money among the voters, the CMS study reveals that the practice of notes for votes has in fact grown over the years.

The menace is not limited to any single belt but prevalent in all parts of the country including the literate states. The report says the Assembly elections in Karnataka in 2008 have set a new benchmark in purchasing votes. The Election Commission confiscated more than Rs 40 crore in cash that was being transported for distribution during that election. The bribing menace was found to be lower in Left Front-ruled states of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. Bote-buying was rampant in highly literate states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andha Pradesh, where more than 40 per cent of voters received money for their votes, the study says. Highest distribution of money is expected in states like Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka where nearly half of voters will be paid “cash-for-vote” 24 hours before the polling day. “Money for votes” is a national phenomenon that spreads across rural-urban, rich poor, different age groups and irrespective of educational levels. Based on a sample of 23,000 below poverty line families in 2007 and 18,000 voters in 2008 from 19 States, the report says even in Delhi 25 per cent of voters received money for their votes. Cash comes into play in three district phases: it is given to party leaders by candidates seeking a nomination; it is given to cadres and competitors on the eve of the filing of nomination; and it is distributed among voters on poll-eve, says CMS chairman Dr N Bhaskara Rao. Various political parties are likely to spend about Rs 1,650 crore which will include Rs 1,000 crore from the two main parties, Congress and BJP.

How the elected representatives serve the country after pumping so much money into their campaign? In a study titled “Citizens’ Report on governance and development 2008-09”, the National Social Watch Coalition informs us that only 173 MPs in the 14th Lok Sabha actually spoke on legislative issues while the House passed nearly 40 per cent of the Bill with less than one hour of debate. The organisation, a conglomerate of civil society groups, also draws attention to the fact that between 2000-2007, the average hour of working of Parliament was not even 50 per cent of the total time. Slogan-shooting, walkouts, boycotts and adjournment were increasing over the years. Each minute of Parliament costs the exchequer Rs 26,035. The report says: “there is not a single session of Parliament during 2008 and 2009 that has not lost valuable man-hours on account of unruly incidents.” The report also found increasing absenteeism among MPs. The NSWC examined attendance records of the 11th and 12th sessions of the 14th Lok Sabha, and to its surprise, found that more than 75 per cent of the MPs were below the point of 16 or more days of attendance. In these two sessions, the number of MPs whose attendance ranged from zero to five days also increased. None of the celebrity members attended more than 20 per cent of the total number of days each session. Top filmstar members like Govinda, Vinod Khanna and Dharmendra did not even raise a question.

A beneficiary of trickle-down effects is the media. Recession-hit and robbed off a lion’s share of their advertising revenues, several leading dailies of the country have already reduced the number of pages and increased their cover price. For them, elections are a welcome relief. According to brokerage firm centrum, Rs 600 crore could go into the promotional campaigns of various parties. Of this amount, 55 per cent is likely to be the print media’s share, 15 per cent could go to the television segment, eight per cent to radio and the rest to new media platforms like mobile and Internet. The BJP has bought prime-time slots on many FM radio channels, which the Congress has purchased rights for Oscar-winning song “Jai Ho” for a reported Rs 1 crore for using in its campaign. Social networking sites like Facebook, Orkut and Myspace have communities built around the two parties and individual politicians. In addition, the two parties have engaged voters through video-sharing sites such as Youtube and video ads on popular websites like MSN and Rediff.

Where do the parties get so much money from? Certainly not from the poor masses. It has to come from big business, big corporate houses and others who float in money. They do not give the money for nothing. For them it’s an investment for favourable policies by the next dispensation. So, parties surrender public interest even before they get re-elected. But they are not bothered. For them it is money which enables them to enjoy the loaves of office.

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