Chapter 8: Political Corruption in India: Coalition Dharma?

Political corruption takes many forms; the worst of which is to use, or misuse, the Constitution for political purposes, confusing or substituting party interests for those of a nation (Tummala 2006: 1–22). Then there is the perennial issue of gerrymandering, by which the party in power re-writes the boundaries of constituencies in such a way as to give it a polling advantage; this does not occur in India, as delimitation of the constituencies is given to a statutory body. There is the continuous flow of money, legal and illegal, from rich individuals and political action committees (PACs), into party coffers, thus buying access to power points and influence policy preferences. The 2009 budget in India proposes that contributions made to political party trusts would be one hundred percent tax-deductible. But since the 2003 amendment to the 1950 Representation of Peoples Act, a certain transparency and accountability have been available in these transactions.¹ Moving from one party to another in search of wanted positions continues to be a problem despite the1985 Anti-defection Law, which would disqualify any legislator who switches party affiliation, but today allows a third of party members to change parties in mid-stream. But the most pernicious occurred during the 2008 confidence motion in Parliament, and in the events leading to the 2009 general elections, when legislators were bought and sold like chattel while cobbling majorities in a coalition government.