"The Committee is considering two options," says CII's outgoing president, Rajive Kaul. The first is the formation of a trust where the corporate sector can contribute money for elections. This would keep the identity of the contributing companies secret and reduce the chances of any quid pro quo. The second option is state funding, where the state would set aside a certain amount from its indirect tax collections each year and transfer it to a special trust. "Ideally Rs 500 crore should be set aside every year, so the government would have Rs 2,500 crore before each election," says Kaul.
While the first alternative has been mooted by the CII itself, the association began considering the second option only after discussions with various political parties. "The CII has been working on this issue for a long time and meeting party leaders, and the good news is that there is a strong consensus among political parties and industry that politicians should be provided with adequate funds for the election process by the state," adds Kaul.
While Kaul seems in favour of pursuing both these options, Bhargava doesn't sound too optimistic about the first option, simply because it would rule out the possibility of the quid pro quo which the industry has become accustomed to: the businessman pays a party and he gets something in return once the horse he has put money on wins the electoral race. "No one would contribute to a trust once contributions are made voluntary and identities protected. This is not a workable solution," he insists.
With elections just two weeks away and the CII itself unable to decide on a set of recommendations, which in any case would do nothing else but serve as a takeoff point for further discussions, this well-intentioned initiative has been a non-starter to say the least.
