| Syllabus: GS-I, Subject: Polity, Topic: Elections and RPA, Issue: Election reforms |
Context: Electoral finance reforms that are needed after Electoral Bonds declared unconstitutional.
Electoral reforms to address concerns of electoral finance:
- Impose expenditure limits on political parties and mandate independent audits.
- Establish a tax-free National Election Fund for donations.
- Ensure internal democracy, transparency, and RTI coverage for political parties.
- Grant legal authority to the ECI to cancel elections for financial misconduct.
- Disqualify individuals with pending heinous offence cases from contesting elections.
- Empower the ECI to de-register political parties that have not contested an election for 10 years, but have benefited from tax exemptions.
- Make paid news an electoral offence with two years’ imprisonment, by declaring it a “corrupt practice” and “undue influence”
| +1 advantage for mains (Statement)
“We should fight against corruption with our full strength. And this is my personal conviction.”(PM Modi) |
