Poll Promise: Can The Election Commission Regulate Them?

While the existing guidelines under the model code of conduct require political parties to explain the rationale for promises made as well as the means to finance such promises, the Election Commission found that the declarations are quite routine, ambiguous and do not provide adequate information to voters to exercise informed choice in an election

- Shivam Sharma and India Legal Bureau

THE Election Commission of India recently wrote to political parties to provide authentic information to voters about the financial viability of election promises and sought their views on the issue. The Commission said that it cannot ignore the undesirable effect of not giving full information on election promises and its financial stability, as hollow election promises will have far-reaching effects.

According to the letter, holding of periodic elections in a free, fair, and transparent manner is integral to any democracy. There are several dimensions to the concept of free, fair and transparent elections. These include that all eligible voters are able to exercise their votes with ease and without fear or allurement. One of the basic requirements is to enable them to exercise their franchise in an informed manner. Therefore, the electoral process has to facilitate the systematic flow of authentic and adequate information to voters at each electoral stage. The choice to cast the vote, the most precious gift of democracy, is directly and intricately linked to access to timely and reliable information. It is in this background that the timely availability of data points to assess the financial viability of the promises made to voters in election manifestos assumes criticality.