The legendary manager of General Electric Jack Welch had a very interesting take on corruption and its success rate. He said "Excellence and competitiveness are totally compatible with honesty and integrity. The bright student, the four minute miler, the high jump record holder - all strong winners - can achieve those results without resorting to cheating. People who cheat are simply weak."
But the history of Indian politics defies Welch's logic of probity in public life. Before the birth of the Aam Aadmi Party or AAP, it was unthinkable to contest elections without the influence of "dirty" money. A common man could not contest elections or be successful in politics if he or she was not blessed with sacks full of money. This, when the Election Commission (EC) has imposed a ceiling on how much a candidate can spend in his/her constituency during campaigning. The EC has clearly identified the amount for each constituency in assembly and in parliamentary elections. But everybody is aware that the figures provided by the candidates are not correct and they invariably spend several times more than the data provided to EC.
I contested the parliamentary elections from Chandni Chowk in April, 2014
. I ran against then cabinet minister Kapil Sibal and present cabinet minister Harsh Vardhan. What was most surprising was that when I submitted the accounts to EC, my expenditure was the highest; their accounts showed much less spend than mine which I could not believe. Alas, I could do nothing. But I had the satisfaction that every penny I spent in elections was accounted for and it could be verified. It was honest money.
Though it's a matter of public knowledge that on an average more than ten crores are spent by Lok Sabha candidates and the possibility of this figure being much higher is a reality, nothing is done about it. EC guidelines on expenditure are flouted as a rule and honest accounting is an exception. So when AAP decided to form a political party in 2012 to contest elections, funding was the real worry.
AAP was fighting against corruption. Rampant use of black money in elections was routine. AAP with an ideological commitment could not even think of crossing the limit set by the EC. Generating funds was the biggest challenge. When the party started asking for donations from the public, there were many who were willing to give heavy donations but they had one condition - it would be in cash. Very few were ready to pay through cheques. These potential donors had one more problem: they all did not want their names to be mentioned on AAP's website as AAP had declared that the funding would be transparent. Anybody could go to our website and check the money AAP had received with the details of the source of the money. These donors did not want to be identified with the AAP as they had a fear that in future, they could be victimised for supporting a new party. We also got to know that many of them had donated to the BJP as well as the Congress.
Also, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Some donors were very open about their intentions. How would the party help them if AAP came to power was the question we were asked. AAP was not in a position to promise anything as that meant benefiting our donors by wrong means after forming the government which was against the party's fundamental principles. In this context I am tempted to cite an interesting story.
This was almost six months ago. AAP's fund was in the negative. AAP needed money to support its campaign in Punjab. An emergency Political Action Committee meeting of our top leaders was called. Everyone was worried. How would elections in Punjab be contested if there was no money? We discussed many options. Finally, Arvind said, "Look I am the Chief Minister of Delhi and if I want, 100 crores can be organised in a month's time. But then we have to make compromises, we will have to indulge in corrupt practices against which we are fighting. I would prefer to fold up the party than to do this." We were all in agreement and the matter ended there. We dispersed to find some innovative but honest ways to fund the party.
Arvind has made a similar
statement in Goa this week. The party is running into losses and two elections have to be fought. From where the funds will be raised is a real concern! When the party decided to contest the 2013 Delhi elections, the party appealed to all its supporters for donations. The party estimated that it would require 20 crores. When the funds hit that number, AAP most courageously asked its supporters to stop donating money. The world was pleasantly surprised. This was a first. Now compare this with the BJP and the Congress who have adamantly refused to disclose the source of 70% to 80% of their funds despite court orders.
It also has to be mentioned that the Delhi High Court found the BJP and Congress
guilty of accepting money from a foreign company, Vedanta, in March 2014. The court asked the centre and the EC to take action against the BJP and the Congress for violating foreign exchange laws. The matter is pending before the Supreme Court but the Modi government has very cleverly, in March this year, inserted a clause in the FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) in the Finance Bill and changed the definition of "foreign company". The Modi government has done this to save itself from any penal action and hoodwink the superior court. I hope the court takes note of this and declares it null and void. This is the same BJP which had accused AAP of illegal foreign funding during the Delhi elections in 2015. They also alleged that AAP had received money via the
hawala or money-laundering route.
Most surprisingly, before the BJP, the Congress had also levelled the same charges. But the Home Ministry in the UPA regime had informed the Delhi High Court in March, 2014 that nothing wrong was detected in AAP funding. Similarly, later under the Modi government also, the Home Ministry in a written submission earlier this year, admitted in the Delhi High Court that there was no wrong doing by AAP.
AAP believes that as the elections get closer, supporters who believe in honest and clean politics will pitch in and will help with funds sufficient for elections. This happened in the last two Delhi assembly elections. The party has enough faith in the
Aam Aadmi's quest to attain Gandhi's dream of spiritualizing politics.
C Rajagopalachari used to say that Gandhi
ji firmly believed that we can't keep politics and morality apart, he wanted politics to be re-built based on a true and reliable foundation, i.e., individual honesty. AAP has shown it can be done. Clean and honest funding is possible in politics.
(Ashutosh joined the Aam Aadmi Party in January 2014.)Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.