Comparing contesting elections to a "business enterprise" only for the wealthy, CPI(M) on Tuesday called for stringent reforms and criticised the government action to roll out electoral bonds as a "deeply regressive move" that shields donors from the "gaze of the electorate".
CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, who shot off a letter to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who sought suggestions for reforms in electoral funding, suggested a cap on election expenditure by political parties and a ban on corporate funding.
Concerned over the system becoming "more skewed" towards those with more money, Yechury objected to recent measures like introduction of electoral bonds, removing the limit on corporate funding and amendment to Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) that "makes possible" foreign funding to flood the coffers of parties.
"Contesting elections has now become akin to a business enterprise, possible only for the wealthy. This, needs stringent reform...We urge your government to review and immediately reconsider these measures which constitute making political funding a black box' which has no scope for public scrutiny," Yechury wrote.
Influential donors
On electoral bonds, Yechury said it "made the donor, donee and the amount, each of these three vital aspects, a state secret, literally" and it shields donors from the electorate, which needs to know if policies are being made precisely because it helps certain influential donors.
He also found fault with lifting the maximum limit on companies available for political donations, saying it allows setting up of shell companies with black money for purely funding parties.
Reversed transparency
"The measures you have introduced recently, I regret to say, have reversed any move towards transparent and clean political funding that may have been possible," Yechury wrote.
Addressing a 'Meet the Press' organised by Indian Women Press Corps, he said a "good move" would be to ban funding of parties by corporates, which see it "as an investment, an effective and easy way of being able to push policy in directions that suit them".
Asked whether the opposition campaign about economic distress has fallen flat with people voting back BJP to power in Gujarat, he said the ruling party has lost 11% votes compared to 2014.
"It is not that economic discontent did not impact them. But they managed to divert much of the discontent through communal polarisation...the battle is between the narrative built through people's struggle and the narrative of communal polarisation," he said.