Former Chief Election Commissioner T.S.Krishnamurthy on Thursday called for the setting up of a national fund to conduct elections and finance candidates. He said electoral bonds where corporates were being allowed to donate must be stopped.

Speaking at a webinar on ‘Populism in Democracy’ organized by Surana & Surana as part of their knowledge series, he said political parties should not be allowed to receive donations from outsiders. “There is no need for donations in the manner it is being given now. In Canada, only members of the respective parties can give funds,” he said. He also said the number of political parties too must be restricted.

Economist Venkatesh B. Athreya said, “Our attitude towards freebies was Janus-faced. It is being made a bad word though it is genuinely needed for people in need. We need to distinguish between right wing political populism that promotes hate politics to win elections and economic demands of the large mass of India’s working poor. The now-popular mid-day meal scheme was made fun of when it was launched, but now it is part of the system since it is good to give food and milk to children who need it,” he said.

Political literacy

V. S. Sambandan, Chief Administrative Officer, The Hindu Centre for Politics & Public Policy, said there was a way out of the present political populism which was to make India more politically literate. Although the country had made strides in absolute literacy, its record in functional literacy remained undesirable. Similarly, although India had flourished as a democracy, it also must address electoral literacy. The spread of political literacy would enable people to recognise populism and serve as a deterrent for political players, he said.

Srinivasa Raghavan, former Editor, BusinessLine, said that as long as the country had this process of electoral democracy, the best way to limit the damage caused by populist measures during elections would be to put in legal and constitutional systems in place. He welcomed measures such as waiver of farm loans but questioned the way it was implemented. Instead of recapitalising the banks, the government could have given the cash to farmers since that would help bring back money into the economy, he said.

Former IAS officer M.G. Devasahayam said the electronic voting machines were not transparent and were not suitable. “The voter here does not know if his vote has been cast or not and if it is being counted,” he said, adding that the question of technology in elections was brought up before the courts in Germany too and they threw out that argument. However, unfortunately in India another machine, the VVPAT, had been added.

K. C. Sundaram, founder director, Indian Institute of Public Policy, spoke about manifestos and how they had become populist. Political parties wanted them to be catchy. The freebies culture began in 2006 with the DMK and was being used by parties as a sort of a quick fix.

Vinod Surana, managing partner and CEO, Surana & Surana International Attorneys, who moderated the session, said this was the second in the knowledge series being organized by the firm.