IPO-Isation of Political Manifestos Ahead of Polls: Why the Election Commission’s Proposal on Freebies Is an Overreach?

Why in News?

• In an attempt to come down hard against the political culture of announcing "freebies" to lure voters, the Election Commission of India prescribed pro-forma for political parties that will explain the financial implications of the promises made and how they will be fulfilled.
• However, this proposal of ECI asking parties to quantify poll promises and explain ab initio (from the beginning) the funding of these promises, and assess fiscal impact is being compared to the “IPO-isation” of a political manifesto.

 

Background

• Based on the directions given by the Supreme Court in the Subramaniam Balaji Case and Article 324 of the Constitution, the ECI has issued guidelines via amendment in Model Code of Conduct (MCC) in 2015.
  • Article 324 of the Constitution mandates the Election Commission to conduct elections inter alia to the Parliament and the State Legislatures.
• These amendments provide for the Political Parties and Candidates to adhere to the promises that political parties make in their manifesto.
• The ECI has asked the political parties and candidates to reply with their views shortly hereafter.
• In case no reply is received, ECI will assume that the parties or candidates do not have anything specific to say on the proposed amendments in the MCC.

 

 

About ECI notice/directives

• Reprimanding (criticizing) parties: In a letter written to the officials of political parties, ECI criticised the political parties for offering freebies without explanation over how they would fulfil them.
• About pro-forma: The proposed ‘standardised disclosure pro-forma’ for the recognised National and State Political Parties contains sections that political parties will have to fill to reflect the rationale for the promises and provide possible ways and means to fulfill them.
  • The ECI further proposed that the parties should disclose the effect thereof on the fiscal sustainability of the State’s or the Central Government’s finances, as the case may be
• Ground plan: The ECI also asked political parties to explain the roadmap which they would use to raise funds for the freebies offered in the manifesto.
• Undesirable repercussions: The ECI also noted that the consequences of inadequate disclosures by political parties get attenuated (diminished) by the fact that elections are held frequently, providing opportunities for political parties to indulge in competitive electoral promises.
  • This is particularly observed in multi-phase elections and the declarations are also not submitted by most of the political parties in time.

 

Significance of ECI move

• Right to truthful information: In its letter, ECI said that it is the right of eligible voters to exercise their vote with ease and have authentic and adequate information at each electoral stage.
• Democratic right: As per ECI, the choice to cast the vote, i.e. the most precious gift of democracy is directly and intricately linked to access to timely and reliable information.
  • Hence the timely availability of data points to assess the financial viability of the promises made to voters in the election manifestos assumes criticality.
• Unviable poll promises: This ECI move will help avoid making undue poll promises which are likely to vitiate the purity of the election process or exert undue influence on the voters in exercising their franchise.
• Fair game: The freebie culture in politics also impacts the level playing field amongst all political parties and candidates and affects the conduct of free and fair elections.

 

Criticism of ECI move

• No standard definition: Defining freebies is impossible, and terming any promise as an “irrational freebie” is fraught with contestation.
  • The ECI had itself stated in an affidavit to the Supreme Court that “irrational” and “freebie’ are subjective, and open to interpretation. A promise of one political party may be a freebie for another and vice versa.
• Vision document: It is a manifesto of more than just a few promises entailing financial costs and serves as document with both subjective and objective elements in a democracy.
• Welfare politics: In today’s Indian scenario with high level of poverty, the scale of unemployment, and the huge inequality, welfarism will drive the political economy. 
  • For instance, Oxfam’s 2022 annual report on Inequality in India revealed that number of poor doubled to 134 million as its dollar billionaires’ wealth doubled.
  • The richest 1 per cent have amassed 51.5 per cent of the total wealth while the bottom 60 per cent of the population a mere 5 per cent.
• No specified criterion: It is not possible for the election watchdog to specify parameters for promises which do not have a financial cost. Like reservations in jobs for a community.
• Breaching limits: Election Commission of India is constitutionally entrusted with the conduct of free and fair elections, and not to curb political and economic imagination.
• Institutional overreach: Making such disclosures a part of the MCC may eventually put the onus of assessment of proformas submitted by political parties on the poll watchdog and this maybe the instance of institutional overreach of ECI.
• Poll contestation: Even if the promises are unrealistic or absurd, it is for the rival parties and the media to expose them.
• People’s mandate: It is ultimately for the voter to judge the economic and fiscal implications of freebie policies and rewarding good performance and punishing non-delivery of the political parties.
• Policy domain: As matters of economic policy lie in the hands of elected representatives, ECI has no role to intervene in the purely political domain of the legislature.

 

SBI warning against freebies

• About report: In a recent report penned by Soumya Kanti Ghosh, the group chief economic advisor for the State Bank of India, he warned against the increasing trends of offering freebies during elections.
• Demonstration: The three poor states were cited as examples that were Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, in terms of pension liabilities that tune to three lakh crores.
  • The report suggested that the pension liabilities of these states were quite high at 217, 190 and 207 per cent, respectively.
• Raising loans: The report noted that the off-budget borrowing of the states had reached 4.5% of the GDP and the extent of freebies or welfare schemes had achieved a major portion of GDP in many states.
• Freebie expenditure: As per the report, cash transfers, utility subsidies, loan or fee waivers and interest-free loans announced by the states in their latest budgets, the estimated expenditure on freebies range from 1 per cent to 2.7 per cent of GSDP of several states.
  • For instance, In the case of Punjab and Andhra Pradesh, which are under high debt, the freebies have exceeded over 2 per cent of the GSDP.

 

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Source: IPO-isation of political manifestos ahead of polls: Why the Election Commission’s proposal on freebies is an overreach?