State funding of elections

State funding of elections

          It is argued that only state funding of elections can ensure free and fair goals. Almost everybody will agree that our election system has gone from bad to worse over the years. The main cause is said to be that elections are won by money and muscle power. Over spending of money, muscle and Mafia power have come to play pernicious role in the elections. Inspite of the limit of expenditure fixed by the election commission, the wily politicians manage to spend money on buying criminals and votes with the lure of money. Booth capturing and violence at the polling stations is managed by the hooligans hired by the politicians who spend money without any restriction. Money is at the root of corruption with the result that the criminals have come to dictate terms and influence the outcome of the polls. In view of the foregoing the political parties should be debarred from spending a single penny from their own collections. On the contrary, state funding of elections should be started to check the misuse of money in elections. In many advanced democracies of Europe state funding of elections has been in operation successfully. There are those who do not agree to this suggestion. The main reason is that there are a number of political parties in India. Then a large number of independent candidates contest the elections. This will result in huge wastage of Government money. Moreover criminalization of politics, use of muscle and mafia power can not be done away with by state funding only. The present limit should be strictly adhered to and Election Commission must find ways and means to punish those who violate this limit.