Flights Of Fantasy
[ M Panging Pao ]
Elections are on us with the upcoming simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls in Arunachal Pradesh in the next few months. The entire nation, the state government, political parties, and aspiring candidates are gearing up for the upcoming elections. Political activities are heating up everywhere.
Most constituencies are likely to see triangular or quadrangular contests with an average of 3-4 candidates per constituency. Including the two Lok Sabha constituencies, there are a total of 62 constituencies in Arunachal. Considering an average of three candidates per constituency, the total candidates would be about 190. Considering an average expenditure of about Rs 10-20 crore per candidate, the total election expenditure by candidates alone comes to about Rs 3,000 crore. In addition, there would be large additional expenditures by all political parties. These figures depict the use of huge money power for elections.
In the Arunachal budget 2023-’24, the projected fiscal deficit was Rs 2,515 crore. The revised estimated allocation for education, sports, and arts sectors was 3,490 crore, health sector was 1,672 crores, agriculture/allied sector was 2,387 crore. The election expenditure in Arunachal is higher than the budget allocations for health and agriculture sectors, education sector/sports/arts sector, and much higher than the annual budget deficit.
There are additional expenditures by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the state government for preparation and conduct of elections. As per a recent study, the 2024 Lok Sabha polls would involve an expenditure of about Rs 1.20 lakh crore, of which the ECI is estimated to spend about 20 percent only. The remaining 80 percent expenditure would be spent by political parties and candidates. An additional Rs 3 lakh crore could be spent if assembly polls are held together. In addition, many working days are lost due to unavailability of government officials detailed for elections. Due to restrictions imposed by the ECI via the model code of conduct, many important policies/projects are put on a back burner for almost two months. All this leads to unaccounted financial losses to the nation and the state.
These humongous amounts of money could be better used to fund many development and infrastructure projects. If somehow these excess expenditures could be reduced, the saved money could be used for better hospitals, better schools and colleges, better roads, stabilised electricity, better agri-horticulture, better livelihood, etc.
Are these enormous expenditures on elections justifiable and affordable for a developing nation like India? Some ways to curtail this colossal election expenditure could be by introducing state funding of elections, or by introducing online voting with Aadhaar/biometric correlation. One of the root causes of corruption is the huge money required by political parties and candidates to contest elections. If the election expenditure is limited, the saved amount could be used for funding development projects and would lead to better standards of living. It is high time to look into this humongous excess expenditure during elections in India and Arunachal. Do you agree? (The contributor is retired Group Captain, Indian Air Force)
