Corporate moolah power votes
Sulekha Nair, Posted: 2009-04-26 23:53:13+05:30 IST, Updated: Apr 26, 2009 at 2353 hrs IST
Indian Express
That corporates and industrial houses fund political parties in the country is an open secret. Of course, no one goes on record to say whom they funded or how much they doled out as ‘donations’. Increasingly, there’s a clamour for ‘transparency’ in funding and also for a bill in Parliament which makes it compulsory for every political party to declare who funded it and to what extent. In December 2008 Assocham came out with a comprehensive paper on ‘Funding of the Political Parties for Election Purposes’ which was submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. It spelt out three main demands: that the government should come out with a mechanism that is transparent; any corporate funding during elections must be accountable and be given only after the shareholders agree to it. “We are not opposed to corporate funding for political parties,” said DS Rawat, secretary general, Assocham. “But money given to political parties must be reflected in the balance sheet.”
Need of the hour
Another demand was that the new government should come out with a bill in Parliament which spells the criteria for funding of political parties. “Let donations be given with respect to the percentage of votes the party has received. No matter how big or small the party, this could be a decisive factor in giving donations,” Rawat says, adding, Sebi and the Income Tax department should be intimated with regard to corporate donations to political parties so that corporates get tax incentives. All donations should be approved by corporate boards, he points out. Political parties must be compelled by law to publish the donations they receive from corporates and the public within three months of the end of political process, he adds.
Let corporates fund by issuing cheques, says Venugopal Dhoot, Chairman, Videocon Industries. “Companies can frame special reservations which can provide for political donations; but these will have to be approved by the Board.” Dhoot says political funding can be a company’s corporate social responsibility. But there is a caveat. “Let it be transparent.”
Delhi-based Imagindia Institute is analysing manifests of all the parties so that it can help corporate houses assess whom to support and fund. “We want to create a debate for transparency,” says Robinder Sachdev, who runs the think-tank. “If your core business is telecom, you have to support a party which has a vision on telecom. The Tatas want their small car to come out of Gujarat, so the corporate major has to back a party which can help that happen,” he adds.
Some political parties like the BJP claim they have been demanding transparency in political funding for years. Vani Tripathi, national secretary, of the BJP Youth Wing echoes “Transparency is the only solution. Or else, we will have to usher in electoral reforms under which whatever may be spent will have to be regulated. The government can become the nodal agency in allocation of funds or the candidate will go to corporates for funding as there is no choice.” Some didn’t know why we make such a fuss about corporate funding if it is voluntary. Says Hussain Dalwai, spokesperson, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC): “As far as the Congress is concerned, we fund our candidates. But if a corporate wants to fund a political party, there is no issue as long as it is in cheques.”
Some candidates who are contesting the current elections as Independents said corporate funding is equal to corruption. “There is no denying the fact that corporate houses have a major role in policy matters,” said one candidate. It then defeats the purpose of standing for elections, another adds. Captain GR Gopinath, who is contesting as an Independent from Bangalore South Constituency says he could afford to contest as he is spending his hard-earned money, and has been endorsed by high-profile campaigners like Infosys’ NR Narayana Murthy. “Corruption starts during elections where crores are spent which are usually ill-gotten money. No corporate will officially say that he/she is aligned to one party or the other. But then there is lot of black money which is given to political parties during elections.” Gopinath says he is not against corporate funding of political parties but it should be ‘transparent’.
A question of ethics
Another corporate who is contesting the elections for the first time is Meera Sanyal, country head, ABN Amro, from the Mumbai South constituency. She is contesting as an Independent, says Sanyal, “to avoid any potential conflict of interests and will fight the elections with my own money.”
s it ethical for corporates to fund elections? Professor Surendra Jondhale, department of Political Science, University of Mumbai, says it cannot be ‘avoided’ in a parliamentary democracy. “Wherever there is parliamentary democracy, the culture of political funding will be there. In the West, there are elite dinners where people come and this is part of fund raising for the elections. In the US, for instance, Rockefeller or any leading business house can give a billion dollars openly. Apart from official funding, there is also discreet funding. We don’t have a sizeable elite who will come for such fund raising dinners.”
There was a debate a few years ago on whether the state can fund political parties. Should it? “If the state decides to give funds to political parties, then there won’t be any reason to fund Sharad Pawar, for instance, and not fund Arun Gawli (criminal turned politician), which would be a ridiculous situation,” argues Jondhale. He feels this enormous funding is possible only through black money, which business houses can provide. “The very nature of a capitalist economy is based on money power and rich politicians. A Medha Patkar or a Baba Amte cannot win an election. The pressure the corporate sector puts on the state cannot be denied.”
However, over the years some corporates too have become wiser up. Though no leading industrialist wants to contest an election, some prefer to get into the Rajya Sabha. A Vijay Mallya has done it. “The only way out of the ‘corruption’, bred especially during elections with regard to corporate funding, is for it to be ‘severely regulated and caps put on the amount a corporate can donate,’ according to Trilochan Sastry, Professor and Dean, IIM Bangalore, and Founder Member, Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). “There should be complete transparency, and stiff penalties on both the donor and the recipient for breaking the law. It is up to Parliament to remedy this.” Do industries have a say in the matter with regard to funding? “Some industries might feel arm twisted, but many willingly support political parties,” he adds.
