Parties are slipping on liability: Election Commission

NEW DELHI: One of the key arguments made in favour of diluting the Central Information Commission (CIC) order as political parties united in resistance to the RTI Act was that they are accountable to a statutory authority: the Election Commission of India. This claim, as it turns out, holds no water as parties have often made a mockery of their accountability to the Commission by defaulting on their obligation to provide details of their expenditure on state elections.

The latest example, EC officials say, is the indifference of the principal opposition party at the Centre. The Election Commission of India (ECI) is clueless on how much the BJP spent in Gujarat even 10 months after it came to power.

The BJP has not filed its statement of expenditure despite three reminders from the Commission for the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal, which went to polls in December, and also Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland that went to polls early this year. As per the EC instructions, parties are required to file their statement within 75 days of an assembly election and 90 days of Lok Sabha elections.

The last date for submitting the statement for Gujarat and Himachal was March 9 and for Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland May 17. NCP and the CPI have also failed on this count.

According to data analysed by Association for Democratic Reforms, in 2008 NCP didn’t bother to show its expenses for Chhattisgarh, MP, Rajasthan and Delhi polls. The CPI too didn’t file statement on Orissa and Andhra elections in 2009.