Corruption Mars Image of Change in India Elections
New Class of Politicians Vows to Curb Graft, but Others Still Build Support on Bribes; Rallies for Food, Liquor
NEW DELHI -- A new class of Indian politicians wants to free its country of rampant corruption, bribery and red tape. But as India gears up for elections starting next week, the new entrants are facing an early hurdle: fraud in the election process itself.
With 714 million registered voters, India is about to stage the biggest democratic election in history, a monthlong affair that begins April 16. Hundreds of political parties are competing, most with a specific regional, ethnic or caste appeal.
Yet many candidates are flouting ethics and financing laws, spending millions to bribe voters with cash and gifts, say people who have followed the campaigns. The size of their war chests could dictate results at the polls.
Corruption and criminality can be found across the spectrum. In the current Parliament, 128 members representing 18 parties out of a total of 545 legislators have criminal charges lodged against them. Of those, 84 are for allegations of murder and 28 for theft and extortion.
Lok Satta, a change-oriented party, is campaigning on promises to fight corruption and institute a code of conduct for legislators. But in the city of Hyderabad, party candidate Atluri Subhashini, isn't getting much attention.
Last week she met with families in the city's Khairatabad slums, trailed by no more than 50 supporters. Two blocks away, candidate Daanam Nagendra, of the Indian National Congress party that runs the national government, held a parade that drew more than 1,000 people.
"We are finding it very hard to translate public support into electoral victories," says Lok Satta party president Jayaprakash Narayan. "Without buying the vote or distributing liquor, your chances are slim."
In a survey by the Centre for Media Studies, one-fifth of voters nationally said politicians or party workers offered them money to vote in the past 10 years. In some states, nearly half said they have been bribed. Out of the $2 billion the government and Indian parties are expected to spend on this year's elections, one-quarter will be for illicit activities, the New Delhi think tank estimated.
The poor are often targets. Parties give cash bonuses or free lunches to voters to boost rally attendance, observers say. After rallies, party workers often distribute liquor as a reward for coming, say people who have attended.
India's change-minded parties are promising to fix such campaign practices. Last month, the Professionals Party of India, boasting a middle-class following, planned to run 100 candidates nationwide to battle corruption. It's now down to two. The party says protecting a squeaky-clean reputation means it can't spend as much as its opponents, and so has had a hard time even finding candidates.
"It's a humble start," says party founder R.V. Krishnan. "But I don't think the PPI is attracting the kind of candidates we need."
Leaders of established parties have spoken out against payouts. "Neither do we encourage it nor do we approve it," says Ravi Shankar Prasad, a spokesman for the Bharatiya Janata Party -- India's second-largest party after the Congress party. A Congress representative didn't return calls seeking comment.
In the coming election, the new politicians had hoped to rally India's educated middle class, which is tired of widespread corruption and still stinging from the memory of last year's Mumbai terrorist attacks that they blame partly on political failure.
This year, 110 of India's 545 constituencies are in cities, according to the New Delhi-based Centre for the Study of Developing Societies. That's up from 74 urban districts in 2004 -- a jump that shows the increasing political heft of India's middle class.
Still, much of the middle class isn't registered to vote. Those who are often view new entrants with suspicion.
"I would not vote for them," says Rajat Kumar, a 33-year-old in Gurgaon, a Delhi suburb, who runs the India office of a European outsourcing firm. "You can't talk about removing corruption without removing the causes that create corruption."
Those causes include poor pay that make low-level bureaucrats depend on bribes to make ends meet, he says, adding that he will evaluate parties on their plans to lift India's masses out of poverty.
Last week, Andhra Pradesh state police seized $600,000 in cash they said was aimed at voters. In nearby Karnataka, the election commission logged 500 cases where liquor, cash and goods aimed at voters were seized, said the state's chief election officer.
Corruption Mars Image of Change in India Elections - WSJ.com
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