Letters: Push electoral reforms

Two electoral reforms are a must if the Prime Minister is sincere in reducing corruption in the electoral system. At present, there is no limit on what a political party can spend on elections as against the upper limits of Rs 70 lakh and Rs 54 lakh permitted for final contestants of parliamentary polls depending on the size of the states. A similar limit of Rs 70 lakh and Rs 54 lakh per constituency should be mandatory for the parties as well and they should be asked to create an “Expenditure Eligibility Fund” and may be allowed to spend varying amounts from this pool in the constituencies as per their discretion.

Second, parties are now allowed to collect cash donations of up to Rs 20,000 without revealing the names of the donors. The amount should be brought down Rs 2,000 and the proportion of such cash collections should be limited to 25 per cent of the aforesaid “Expenditure Eligibility Fund”. If more than this amount is collected, the excess should be handed over to the Election Commission. The present government, with its majority in the Lok Sabha, should push this reform through and send it to Rajya Sabha for approval. That will be a true test of how sincere the various parties are in carrying out such reforms.

P V Maiya   Bengaluru