Mamata Banerjee writes to PM Modi on election expenditure, seeks all-party meet

Amid the post poll violence in the state of West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee penned a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to call an all party meeting with focus on election expenditure. Stating concern about the expenditure done in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the letter calls for electoral reforms. The letter written by West Bengal CM has demanded government funding of elections.

Citing names of various countries like UK, Japan, Italy, Canada, etc, the letter says that corruption cannot be checked if funding in elections not focussed. Mentioning a report named Poll Expenditure by Centre for Media Studies (CMS), it claimed that the 2019 general elections was the most expensive election ever and so all parties must focus on bringing electoral reforms. It proposed the idea of Direct Public Funding for bringing down the massive expenditure in elections conducted in the country. 

"You are perhaps well aware that political parties spent lavishly on publicity and logistics and are said to have even distributed cash for votes. The Election Commission of India (ECI) had imposed strict limits only on the expenditure incurred by candidates  on their election campaign and not on the political parties," the letter stated.

Furthermore, it gave a list of countries that uses Direct Public Funding and those those that have free media acccess for political parties. "It further said that 71 political parties in the world are entitled to free media access for political parties. However, in our country broadcasting and television time is allowed only in the state-owned All India Radio and Doordarshan."

The letter ended demanding the Prime Minister to call for an all party meeting to end 'mother of all corruption'. "Given the examples across te world on Direct Public Funding of Political Parties and given that India has gained notoriety of having spent the largest amount of funds in elections in 2019 in the world, particularly because of the concerns relating to the corruption, I urge you to call an All Party meeting with the single agenda of Public Funding of Elections in India with the objective of rooting out what has been called the 'Mother of all corruption'," the letter stated. 

Here is the letter: