Electoral Funding and the BJP
The familiar playbook is back on display. The charges of possible financial contributions for political funding of BJP in lieu of largesse from the government is right back on the table.
On February 29, 2024, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared three semiconductor units as part of the government’s push to build a domestic semiconductor industry. Two units were slated to be led by the Tata Group. This was in the immediate run up to the Lok Sabha elections.
As part of a scheme to incentivise semiconductor production, the Centre agreed to underwrite half the cost of building the units. For the two units of the Tata Group, this subsidy comes to Rs 44,203 crores. The Tata Group donated Rs 758 crores to the BJP weeks after the Union government’s announcement. Media investigation reveals how this money was routed.
It was believed that the massive and obviously, controversial BJP government led electoral bond scheme had led to huge and disproportionate financial gains for the ruling party. Consequently, it had led to a legal challenge of the scheme itself. After prolonged deliberation, the Supreme Court declared the scheme unconstitutional on the ground that it infringed on the right of information of voting citizens. The impact of the court judgement caused a veritable political earthquake and brought out the data on the amounts, extent and nature of funding to each political party and the identity of the specific corporates which had contributed to the bonds.
The data of the funding during the operation of the electoral bond scheme came into the public domain for scrutiny. Independent and media analysis of the massive data revealed an extremely disturbing feature; the likelihood of quid pro quo between corporates and governments. Obviously, the parties which ran the concerned governments and took decisions did correspond to commensurate funding by the corporates who financially benefited from those decisions. The natural conclusion was vindication of the assumption of quid pro quo.
However, there were more serious allegations of the abuse of central agencies like CBI or ED for virtual extortion. Indication of coercing corporates into funding specific parties also tumbled out. But neither the government nor the court was prepared to probe those charges to establish culpability and the related criminal infringements. Now with the revelations about the Tata group, it is clear that even after the scrapping of the electoral bonds, corporate funding of political parties continues with the distinct possibility of quid pro quo continuing.
Parties also accepted funds from electoral trusts that had large corporations as their donors. In addition, parties received other donations through cash and bank transfers, which were declared in their annual audit reports.
Looking at the audit reports of the BJP and adding up the numbers from all three sources – electoral bonds, electoral trusts, and other donations – for six years between 2018 and 2023, the result reveals that the BJP’s treasure chest grew astronomically.
More importantly, the BJP shot ahead of other parties even more decisively. Looking at the disclosures made by 12 major political parties that account for over 85% of political representation in Parliament, further conclusions can be made. They also account for over 96% of the money received through electoral bonds. Hence, it is safe to assume that most money given through electoral trusts and other donations went to these parties. Tabulating these numbers, the BJP’s share of known political finance in India comes to about 58%, more than all other parties taken together.
The trend is clear. So long as corporate financing of political parties remains, there is virtual inevitability of quid pro quo. The data clearly establishes the sharp and disproportionate gains for BJP. With, money power the myth of ‘level playing field’ so eloquently articulated in the Constitution and the Representation of Peoples’ Act disappears into thin air. We have witnessed in reality the incredible magnitude of BJP’s money power and the havoc it has wreaked. This level of disparity in access to political financing is also witnessed in the unseemly growth of horse trading of elected representatives. With corporate media hegemony, this major development is pushed below the carpet.
In this situation, electoral democracy cannot exist in the manner in which it was envisaged. Without urgent electoral reforms, particularly on the question of financing of political parties, we are staring at doom.
