The bonds that break
Elections are around the corner and controversies are bound to capture the limelight. One such big news that caused a stir among the political factions was the Supreme Court verdict on discontinuation of electoral bonds scheme. While this was not controversial, but it was a decision which can roll a lot of eyes. Electoral Bond scheme is a scheme that was introduced by BJP in 2018 to cleanse the political funding in India. This was to ensure that transparency in the electoral funding was facilitated. However, the electoral bond raised eyebrows from a lot of NGOs and led to 2 NGOs filing a petition in Supreme Court to quash the electoral bonds. Before I come on how the verdict impacts the elections and political landscape in India, let’s understand what the scheme is all about.
Electoral Bonds are a means of anonymous donations that can be given to political parties for the purpose of elections or overall development. They are bearer instruments that the companies can buy from State Bank of India and then give as donation to political parties who can redeem it without any interest within 15 days. This is very similar to political donations, but the donor is not revealed to the public and there is no limit to the amount one can donate. This concept benefited BJP and other parties over the past 5 years and eventually led to questions being raised by NGOs and opposition parties as well owing to the following:
1. Political Lobbying is enabled: With no limit on the donation amount and anonymity maintained for the public, a lot of companies and investors may have donated to the parties of their choice to get advantages if their party is in power. Political lobbying mixed with corruption can be at its best display in this scenario and has been evident in multiple infrastructure related projects as well.
2. Opaque system: Intent of electoral bonds was to bring transparency into the electoral system. The treasured electoral bonds have only made the process even more opaque with no information on who is funding the parties and how a party could be becoming powerful.
3. Money wins over governance: Such a scheme brings forth the begging question that money can dictate the verdict of the elections. BJP is the largest and richest party in the country and electoral bonds account for 57% of its total income. This speaks volumes of the power of money when not controlled towards the political parties and destroys the even ground that the public may be yearning for when trying to choose the best candidate.
Verdict on the quashing of electoral bond scheme
Overall, it is a step change in brining equality in the elections and the revelation of political donors will raise a lot of agenda points in election manifestos and campaigns, but it is unlikely to affect the outcome of the elections in 2024.
From a long-term perspective, it will help bring parity, but BJP is miles ahead in terms of money power for anyone to catch up easily. The parity will come over a decade as other opposition parties find way to break the dominance. On top of this, the election commission, and Supreme Court need to be on the watchout for similar regulations or schemes that the government can reintroduce in the name of transparency.
