It is not only the content of election manifestos but also the past performance with respect to promises made in election manifestos that need to be regulated. Discuss.
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An election manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives or views of an individual, group, political party or the government. It serves as a reference document for citizens as regards the ideologies, policies and programmes of a political party.
By making a comparison, electors decide which party they should vote for, based on which election manifesto best aligns with their expectations and aspirations. However, regardless of the importance of a manifesto to the election process, there have been several lacunae that call for regulation of the same. It is not just the content of the manifestoes but their execution, as well, that is an issue.
Need for regulating content of the election manifestos :-
- Lack of details around implementation :- Election manifestos do not contain adequate details of the manner in which the policies would be implemented, the source of funds for such implementation, etc.
- Freebies to swing voters’ opinion :- Certain regional political parties offer freebies as part of their manifestos with the sole intention of inducing the electorate into voting for their party.
- Instigation :- Most manifestos tend to have offensive/incendiary campaign material, with the sole purpose of instigating particular feelings or inclination.
Need for regulating past promises made by the political parties in their manifestos :-
- Absence of tracking and enforcement mechanism :- There is a statutory vacuum regarding the regulation of election manifestos to the extent of tracking the performance of the political parties and the candidates and their accountability to the public thereof. Resultantly, political parties who get elected on the strength of their manifestos, tend to ignore, delay, or renege on manifesto promises.
- No requirement of compliance under RTI :- Political parties are not liable to disclose information even under the RTI, thereby leaving no option for the citizens of the country to know the status of the fulfilment of the election manifestos.
- Violation of voters’ right to know :- Such practices are in contravention of voters’ ‘right to know’ as recognised by Article 19(1) (a) of the Indian Constitution and reiterated in various cases like State of Uttar Pradesh v. Raj Narain & Others, Lok Prahari vs. Union of India, Union of India v. The Association for Democratic Reforms.
For a participative form of democracy, the voters must be educated in the right manner. However, despite express directions of the Supreme Court of India in the case of S. Subramaniam Balaji vs. State of Tamil Nadu & Others, the Election Commission has only issued generic guidelines stating that :-
- the election manifesto is to be in compliance with the Model Còde of Conduct,
- the promises should not vitiate the purity of elections; and
- manifestos should also reflect the rationale for the promises and broadly indicate the ways and means to meet the financial requirements for it.
Correspondingly, the Parliament should amend the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 to seek information regarding the status report of the promises of quantitative nature made in the election manifestos of the candidates along with his/her political party. The Election Commission should also mandatorily ask for similar information in an affidavit from candidates/political parties by suitably modifying the Model Còde of Conduct.
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It is not only the content of election manifestos but also the past performance with respect to promises made in election manifestos that need to be regulated. Discuss.
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