16-09-2015

Lok Sabha 2014 Election Expenditure:

An analysis of declaration of lumpsum amounts by political parties to their MPs

Introduction

·  All registered political parties are required to submit a statement of election expenditure to the Election Commission of India (ECI)within 90 days of completion of Lok Sabha Elections.

·  Similarly, all contesting candidates are required to submit their expenditure statement to the ECI within 30 days of completion of elections.

·  The expenditure statements of political parties contain details of ‘lumpsum amount given to the candidates’ and the abstract statements of candidates provide information on ‘lumpsum amount received from the parties’.

· This report analyses the difference in the declarations made by political parties and their MPs on the lumpsum amounts granted and received as part of election expenditure during the Lok Sabha elections in 2014.

· Of a total of 543 MPs, complete information was available for 539 MPs which ADR has analysed. Of the remaining 4 MPs, 3 were Independent candidates and 1 MP, Shri Gopinathrao Munde, of BJP had passed away and his expenditure statement was not available on the website of the ECI.

·  The analysis is made based on the expenditure reports submitted by the parties and the MPs from the date of announcement of elections to the date of completion of elections.

·  The expenditure limit for candidates is revised from time to time. During Lok Sabha Elections in 2014, the limit of expenditure for a parliamentary constituency in bigger states like U. P, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh was Rs. 70 lakhs and the lowest limit for a parliamentary constituency was Rs. 54 lakhs for the constituencies of smaller states such as Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Goa.

For a copy of the complete report in HINDI, kindly refer to the attachment.

Summary

·   Total numbers of MPs whose expenditure statements were analysed:  539 MPs.

·  Out of 342 MPs  from national parties, a total of Rs 7,558.85 lakhs (~ Rs 75.58 crores) was declared by 263 MPs as received from their parties whereas the national parties have declared that Rs 5,473.54 lakhs (~ Rs 54.73 crores) was given to only 175 MPs.

·   Candidates from BSP did not succeed in winning a seat in the Lok Sabha, hence the party is not included in this analysis.

S. No	Party	Total Lok Sabha MPs	No. Of MPs who have declared receiving aid from party	Total amount declared by MPs as received from party	No. MPs to whom aid was given by the party	Total amount declared by party as given to MPs
1	BJP	282	229	Rs 6,588.26 lakhs	159	Rs 4,825.04 lakhs
2	INC	44	18	Rs 403.60 lakhs	7	Rs 270.00 lakhs
3	NCP	6	6	Rs 279.70 lakhs	5	Rs 250.00 lakhs
4	CPI	1	1	Rs 21.83 lakhs	0	Rs 0
5	CPM	9	9	Rs 265.46 lakhs	4	Rs 128.50 lakhs
Total	342	263	Rs 7,558.85 lakhs	175	Rs 5,473.54 lakhs

Table: MPs’ declaration of aid for election expenses from the party

·  Of the regional parties, a total of 38 MPs from 14 different parties have either declared nil amount as received or mentioned various amounts as received from their respective parties which do not match with the expenditure statements submitted by the parties.

·   Party-wise breakup of difference in amounts declared by the MPs from National Parties

o   One MP from BJP, Smt Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah, had declared that she had received no lumpsum amount from her party whereas her party had declared that a total of Rs 15 lakhs was given to her for Lok Sabha elections.

o   On the other hand, a total of Rs 17.09 crores were declared as received by 88 MPs, 70 MPs from BJP, 11 from INC, 5 from CPI(M) and 1 each from NCP and CPI,  and but their names are missing from the list of candidates to whom lumpsum amount was given by their parties.

Declaration of lumpsum amounts by National Parties and their MPs
Amount given as declared by National Parties	Amount received as declared by their MPs
Rs 15 lakhs	0
0	Rs 1,709.12 lakhs

o   Out of 159 MPs to whom BJP had declared to have given some lumpsum amount, only 105 MPs had declared the same amount while 35 declared an amount larger than what the party had said it had given.

o   Out of 5 MPs of NCP to whom the party had declared to have given a lumpsum amount, only 3 MPs declared the same amount while 2 MPs declared a larger amount received than what was stated by their party.

S. No.	Party	No. of MPs to whom aid was given as declared by the party	No. of MPs who have declared nil amount received	No. of MPs who have declared lesser amount received than stated by the party	No. of MPs who have declared larger amount received than stated by the party	No. of MPs who have declared same amount received as stated by the party
1	BJP	159	1	18	35	105
2	INC	7	0	0	1	6
3	NCP	5	0	0	2	3
4	CPI	0	0	0	0	0
5	CPM	4	0	0	0	4
Total		175	1	18	38	118

Table: Party-wise breakup of difference in amounts declared by the MPs

·  Party-wise grant to MPs given by national parties for Election Expenditure

o   BJP declared having given a total of Rs 122 lakhs to 17 MPs, each receiving a sum less than or equal to Rs 10 lakhs and Rs 4,703 lakhs to 142 MPs,  each receiving a sum of more than Rs 10 lakhs for their election expenditure.

o   INC declared having given a total of Rs 270 lakhs to 7 MPs, each receiving amounts above Rs 10 lakhs while NCP declared having given a total of Rs 250 lakhs to 5 MPs, each receiving a sum greater than Rs 10 lakhs.

S. No.	Party	No. of MPs who were given Rs 10 lacs or less	No. of MPs who were given more than Rs 10 lacs
1	INC	0	7
2	BJP	17	142
3	NCP	0	5
4	CPI	0	0
5	CPM	0	4

Table: Party-wise aid to MPs for election expenses

 Recommendations of ADR

       1.       Regular submission of Election Expenses by political parties

While the political parties are required to declare their expenditure during Assembly and Lok Sabha elections within 75 and 90 days of declaration of results respectively, the deadline is not always met by the parties. The website of the Election Commission of India providesscanned copies of reminders sent to the political parties for defaulting in their submission. A PIL filed by ADR in the Delhi High Court in May, 2014, not only requests for regular submission of election expenditure by contesting political parties but also a cap on the parties’ expenditure.

2.       Details of donors

Details of the donors such as their names, companies, address and the individual contribution is unavailable for public scrutiny. Hence, a format similar to the donations report, submitted to the ECI on an annual basis, has to be prescribed so as to bring in more transparency in the functioning of the political parties especially during elections. The format should include all modes of payments such as cash, DD, cheque and electronic transfer along with the donors’ details.

 3.       Data verification with the election expenses submitted by the candidates

It is seen from the analysis that the declaration by 33% MPs on lumpsum amount received, does not match with their parties’ declarations regarding the amount allocated to the candidate for election expenditure. As there is discrepancy in the data provided by the candidate and his/ her political party, it should be made mandatory to cross check data provided by all the candidates and the political parties. The Election Commission could scrutinize the expenditure statements within 6 months of declaration of election results, and erring parties and their candidates should be penalized. This should also be treated as wrong filing of affidavits by the candidates, if proven.

The transparency guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India, which came into force on 1st October, 2014 specifically states that those parties providing any lumpsum amounts to their candidates should do so “… through crossed account payee cheque or draft or through bank account transfer and not in cash”. Once these guidelines are strictly followed, scrutiny of the amounts given by parties and that received by the candidates can be conducted.

​For a detailed analysis of the difference in lumpsum amounts declared by MPs of National and Regional political parties, kindly refer to the attached reports.

Regards,

Media and Journalist Helpline +91 80103 94248 Email:adr@adrindia.org

Maj. Gen. Anil Verma (Retd.) Head Association for Democratic Reforms & National Election Watch +91 8826479910 anilverma@adrindia.org

Prof. Jagdeep Chhokar IIM Ahmedabad Founder Member National Election Watch, Association for Democratic Reforms +91 99996 20944 jchhokar@gmail.com

Prof. Trilochan Sastry IIM Bangalore Founder Member, National Election Watch, Association for Democratic Reforms +91 94483 53285, trilochans@iimb.ernet.in

--

Association for Democratic Reforms

T-95A, C.L. House, 1st Floor,
(Near Gulmohar Commercial Complex)
Gautam Nagar
New Delhi-110 049