The electoral bond fiasco has proved that they have failed to bring transparency into the election process and also have in no way, contributed to ending the flow of black money.
While the Supreme Court striking down the electoral bond scheme as unconstitutional and violative of the right to information of citizens is a welcome move, many critics say that India is back to square one as far as political funding is concerned.
The question now is how to ensure transparency in political funding, which is one of the key aspects of electoral reforms. The electoral bond scheme has given undue advantage to the ruling BJP and has kind of hit the opposition parties hard. The BJP is amassed with cash and therefore has a massive advantage over others in the election. After all, money does matter in the election.
Anyone familiar with the workings of the Indian political system knows well that our elections are funded by money donated by rich businessmen and that often these donations are linked to a contract or a favour. It is not easy to break the symbiotic relationship that exists all over the world between big money and big politics but in countries that have better checks and balances things work better. If India’s political system continues to be reliant on black money it is mostly the fault of our political leaders. If they made it easier for businessmen to work without needing to rely on bribery and corruption, there would be less black money. Free and fair elections are not possible without transparency of political funding.