Running for Office in India Is Often a Money-Losing Game

(Bloomberg) --

Winning doesn’t matter for the vast majority of candidates contesting elections in the world’s largest democracy, where thousands get so few votes that they forfeit their enrollment deposits.

So, why run? Some rebels contest the polls if they’ve been sidelined by their parties, others try to thwart the chances of similarly-named rivals, while still others fight in protest of the political environment. Since 1952, more than three-quarters of aspirants on average have lost their deposits -- currently 25,000 rupees ($361) for general candidates and 12,500 rupees for contestants from the underprivileged category.

Given the sums involved, the Election Commission’s desire to weed out non-serious candidates hasn’t worked despite periodic increases by the agency. In the 2014 elections, almost 85 percent of the 8,251 hopefuls fared so miserably that the poll-conducting body held on to their deposits. While independents figure prominently in this list, 50 percent of candidates fielded by prominent national parties also met the same fate.

According to the Election Commission of India’s rules, every hopeful must make a security deposit to become eligible to contest. The deposit is forfeited if a candidate isn’t elected and fails to get a minimum of one-sixth of the total valid votes polled.

Over the years, as the number of contestants have increased, the Election Commission’s revenue from lost deposits has risen as well. The agency depends on allocations from the federal government to conduct elections for the lower house of parliament or Lok Sabha.

WHAT TO WATCH:

• BJP President Amit Shah to address public meetings in Gujarat on Monday
• Muralidhar Rao, BJP national general-secretary, to meet press in Tamil Nadu on Monday
• Congress President Rahul Gandhi to address rally in Gujarat on Monday
• Congress promises to provide 72,000 rupees annually to poor families
• India’s communist party to halt sale of state companies if it wins elections

IN THE MEDIA:

• At 6.7 billion rupees, BSP has biggest bank balance among parties: ToI
• Opposition parties to approach top court again seeking paper trail: PTI
• Not one vote cast in India’s southernmost booth: ToI
• Braving all odds, transgender candidates take poll plunge: HT
• Congress’s tactical choices to help Uttar Pradesh grand alliance: ET

ELECTION & MARKETS:

• The Congress’s announcement of a large new $52 billion social-spending program risks creating fiscal problems and may require higher taxes, while the BJP has been more moderate in its poll promises, Mahesh Nandurkar and Abhinav Sinha, analysts at CLSA India Pvt., said in an investor note on April 8.
• Still, the risk of competitive populism after the elections cannot be ruled out and would depend on the strength of the election mandate.
• READ: As World’s Largest Democracy Votes, Here’s Where Markets Stand
• READ: PineBridge Is Wary of India Bank Bonds as Voters Judge Modi
• READ: How to diversify as India vote rocks most-expensive Asian stocks

LATEST COMMENTS:

• “Thanks to Babasaheb’s constitution, a ‘chaiwala’ (tea seller) is holding the prime minister’s post,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a rally, highlighting the strength of the constitution written by B. R. Ambedkar.
• “Before airing of television serials, a disclaimer is played which says ‘this is the work of fiction and has nothing to with reality.’ This sentence is apt for Congress president Rahul Gandhi because whatever he speaks is fictitious,” Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said addressing a gathering.

BLOOMBERG EXCLUSIVES:

• What’s Modi’s Secret? The Same as Kylie Jenner’s: Pankaj Mishra
• Secretive Hindu Hardliners in India Are Fueling Modi’s Campaign
• Five Years On, Modi’s Vision of a New India Remains Elusive
• India’s Silent Water Crisis High in the Mind of Voters
• Congress Party Reminds Modi What Reform Looks Like: Mihir Sharma
• A Murky flood of Money Pours Into the World’s Largest Election
• The Wrong Way to Fight Fake News Ahead of Elections: Editorial
• Why India’s Election Is Among the World’s Most Expensive
• Inside India’s Colossal, Colorful, Tough-to-Predict Election
• Modi Hopes $27 Billion Bet on Women Will Swing Election His Way

ECONOMY:

• RBI Governor Says India’s Economy Needs to Grow Even Faster
• India Central Bank Cuts Key Rate to Boost Flagging Economy
• India’s Central Bank to Issue New Rules on Bad Debt Resolution

EARLIER STORIES:

• Modi Pledges $1.44 Trillion on Infrastructure in Re-Election Bid
• Major Parties Spooked as More Indians Vote ‘None of the Above’
• India Opposition Leader Gandhi Pledges to End Poverty by 2030
• Modi vs Who? India’s Ruling Party Pushes Presidential Election
• Quotas Set to Change the Balance of Power for Women in India
• Young, Angry and ‘Untouchable’: India’s Low-Caste Threat to Modi
• Tackling Rising Hate Speech in the World’s Biggest Election
• India’s Gen Z Voters’ Call for 2019 Election: More Jobs, Please

QUICKTAKE:

• Your Guide to India’s Upcoming General Election
• Why Election Goodies Await India’s Struggling Farmers
• Why India’s Lower Castes Could Hold Key to Election

--With assistance from Manish Modi and Ameya Karve.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bibhudatta Pradhan in New Delhi at bpradhan@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net, Candice Zachariahs, Bhuma Shrivastava

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