Green Politics
The toll that polls take on environment…
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Money spent in 2008 US polls.
Source: Center for Responsive Politics:25 October, 2008. |
Democrat candidate Barack Obama has won the US presidential elections. And the entire world is talking about his ‘historical’ victory. Not only because he is the first Afro-American President, but also because he has won the elections with a huge margin, leaving his Republican counterpart John McCain far behind. Speculations about the reasons behind this win are on in full swing.
According to experts, the most potent driving force behind Obama was the fact that his was “the best political campaign in the history of the United States of America” (Obama’s victory speech). Yes, it was. And a vast amount of money was spent on it. Millions of North American citizens contributed to his poll kitty.
Obama had an extremely broad donor base – developed through Internet. His supporters donated a whopping US$650 million – more than the amount spent by both presidential contenders in 2004 combined! What was done with the money? It was used to fight and win the war. In some states, in the final weeks of the campaign, Obama outspent McCain by a ratio of four to one.
Yes, an enormous amount of money is spent during elections. Not only in the US, but everywhere in the world.
The Parliament of India comprises of the President, and the two Houses, which form the Legislature. The President of India is elected for a five-year-term by an electoral college consisting of members of federal and state legislatures.
The Parliament has two chambers – the House of the People (Lok Sabha) and the Council of States (Rajya Sabha).
Lok Sabha has 545 members – 543 members elected for a five-year-term in single-seat constituencies and two members appointed to represent the Anglo-Indian community.
Rajya Sabha has 245 members, 233 members elected for a six-year-term, with one-third retiring every two years. The members are elected by legislators of the state and union (federal) territories. The twelve nominated members are usually eminent artists (including actors), scientists, jurists, sportspersons, businessmen and journalists.
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The scale of elections in the US is no doubt pretty huge. But, what about India? Well, now is the perfect time to talk and know more about this because the State Assembly Elections are already on in the country. And Delhi has just been through all the tamasha.
INDIAN POLLS
India is a constitutional democracy with a parliamentary system of government. Elections are, thus, at the heart of the system. They decide the composition of the government, the membership of the two houses of Parliament; the state and union territory legislative assemblies; and the Presidency and vice-presidency. So, how big are the events?
The scale
Here are some facts and figures from the 2004 Parliamentary or Lok Sabha elections:
- There were – 1351 candidates from 6 National parties, 801 candidates from 36 State parties, 898 candidates from officially recognised parties and 2385 independent candidates.
- A total number of 38,99,48,330 people voted out of total electorate size of 67,14,87,930.
- The Election Commission employed almost 4 million people to run the election.
- The electorate for the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) exceeds 670 million electors in about 700000 polling stations spread across widely varying geographic and climatic zones.
|
Year |
Expenditure (Rs in Crore) |
| 1991 |
359 |
| 1995 |
597 |
| 1998 |
666 |
| 1999 |
880 |
| 2004 |
1,300 |
And elections are expensive. The Election Commission of India prepares a budget, which is approved by the government. If elections are being held only for the Lok Sabha, the expenditure is borne entirely by the central government. But if the polls are for a state legislature, the expenditure is borne by the state government concerned. Here are some cost figures…
Now, under the Election Commission’s guidelines, each candidate can spend between Rs10 to Rs25 lakh, depending on the constituency.
Out of this, Rs4 lakh has to be set aside for the campaign of national or state level leaders. Every item of expenditure is recorded. And before spending anything, the candidate has to inform the commission’s expenditure monitors.
What are the actual expenses? No one knows. Candidates spend as much as they like, and put in the name of their parties and friends, which is non-accountable.
But the main question is – where do they spend it? There are many options, but let us look at those that are accounted for. In the US for example,
| Description |
Total Expenditures (in US$) |
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| Travel |
139,665,772 |
| Postage/Shipping |
66,842,759 |
| Rent/Utilities |
53,800,910 |
| Miscellaneous Administrative |
45,568,209 |
| Supplies, Equipment & Furniture |
23,997,370 |
| Campaign Events |
53,398,532 |
| Polling/Surveys/Research |
37,199,672 |
| Materials |
35,499,984 |
| Miscellaneous Campaign |
1,688,605 |
| Fundraising Events |
2,494,726 |
| Broadcast Media |
415,732,217 |
| Miscellaneous Media |
76,988,197 |
| Internet Media |
29,588,323 |
| Print Media |
16,445,567 |
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Here is an example of the expenditures of two leading political parties in India during Assembly Elections in 2004 in the state of Maharashtra:
Hey! Look at the money they spent on travelling! Look at the US elections, the amount is enormous – US$134,593,527!
Politicians have to travel for campaign. After all, they have to make their presence felt. But what are its upshots? Emission of harmful greenhouse gases. And travelling is not the only way elections harm the environment…
ASSEMBLY ELECTION 2004, MAHARASHTRA
Name of party: Bharatiya Janata Party
- Printed materials like manifesto, pamphlets, posters, handbills etc. – 1,722,722
- Making and Distribution of video films – 150,000
- Cut-outs, hoardings, banners, flags, arches, gates etc. – 1,711,370
- Travel Expenses of leaders by Aircraft/helicopters/ships etc. – 15,686,991
- Travel expenses of other leaders and workers
- On cars, other four wheelers, three wheelers and two wheelers – 3,662,436
- Trains – 32,793
- Aircraft/helicopters/ships etc. – 677,331
Name of Party: Indian National Congress
- Printed materials like manifesto, pamphlets, posters, handbills etc. – 708465.00
- Making and distribution of Audio Cassettes – 200000
- Cut-outs, hoardings, banners, flags, arches, gates etc. – 936900.
- Travel expenses of leaders
- On cars, other four wheelers, three wheelers and two wheelers – 2309601.00
- Aircrafts/ helicopters/ ship, etc – 258826.00
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