Poll panel learns fresh lessons in curbing money power

THE NEW INDIAN ELECTIONS PART - I

The results of the Karnataka Assembly polls are still being gestated by political parties, but it is the Election Commission (EC) which is trying to learn real lessons from the experience. According to one EC official, the amount of money power on display during Karnataka polls has been unprecedented, and holds the next big challenge for the EC "" how to curb the money power.

According to rough estimates available with Business Standard, over 2,500 cases have been filed across 30 districts in the state. The seizures of plain cash, goods and liquor amounting to over Rs 40 crore has astounded the EC after it undertook a quick survey of the extent of damage. Surprisingly, Gulbarga district tops the chart in this regard, which is otherwise not the most prosperous district in Karnataka. The EC has seized a total of over Rs 13.5 crore from the district, while Rs 11.5 crore had been confiscated from the mining district of Bellary. "In Mandya district, we have had only one seizure of cash amounting to Rs 3.1 crore," said one bewildered EC official.

Liquor seizures have hit record levels with seizures amounting to over Rs 10 crore with over 2,000 cases being registered.

The case of Karnataka is being seen as extreme by the Commission, which says that money has always played a part in polls in India. "In Rajasthan, for instance, we see candidates go to particular villages, meet caste leaders and tie a turban of support on the leaders' head and also hand over some money, generally Rs 10 lakh or so, to ensure that votes of the entire village or caste community are delivered en masse," said a senior EC official.

The political class has been quick to point fingers at the Commission itself. Many senior leaders, including CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat, have alleged that the EC's strict clampdown on campaign material like posters, buntings and banners has led to election spending through these means. "A poor candidate would paint walls and still manage to get his message across; now that is impossible," said Karat in a signed article in party mouthpiece, People's Democracy.

This is a charge which is hotly denied by EC members. "Money has been present in Indian elections for the past many years. It is easy to identify a violent suppression of voting rights, but in most cases where monetary inducements are offered, it always difficult to find out as the person at the receiving end rarely complaints," said an EC official.

Election watchers like Bhibhu Prasad Mohapatra, a fellow with the India Development Foundation, says there is still a ray of hope when it comes to money and elections. "We have seen in several Assembly elections that despite growing money power, and the number of millionaire candidates, there is no correlation between them and their ability to win," he said.

"For example, we have done an analysis in Uttar Pradesh, and have seen that there were 463 candidates who had declared assets over the Rs 1-crore mark. Out of them, 115 (24.83 per cent) managed to win. Of these 115, 48 had criminal cases pending against them. The richest candidate in the fray was V M Singh, the Congress leader from Puranpur, who had declared assets worth Rs 347 crore. Yet he lost," adds Mohapatra.

(Tomorrow: Elections and disaster management unite with vulnerability mapping)