<p class="title">The upcoming general elections in India will be the most expensive in Indian history and perhaps one of the most expensive ever held in any democratic country, a US-based expert has said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Election Commission of India is soon expected to announce its schedule for the polls to be held to elect 543 members of the Lok Sabha.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The combined US presidential and congressional elections in 2016 cost USD 6.5 billion. If the 2014 Lok Sabha elections cost an estimated USD 5 billion, there is little doubt the 2019 election will easily surpass that — making India's elections the world's most expensive," Milan Vaishnav, senior fellow and director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think-tank told PTI.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The uncertainty associated with the coming election —polls suggest a narrowing gap between the BJP and the opposition — only provides more fodder for an arms race in spending," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Vaishnav has emerged as an authoritative voice on Indian elections, in particular the funding aspects of it, over the years.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"While the outcome of the next general election is up in the air, one attribute about it is already well known: it will be the most expensive general election in Indian history and perhaps one of the most expensive ever held in any democratic society," Vaishnav wrote in an op-ed for Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a top American think-tank.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Noting that the 2014 general elections costed USD 5 billion, Vaishnav said it was not inconceivable that overall expenditure will double again this year.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The exorbitant cost of Indian elections has become a cardinal fact of the Indian political economy that is widely acknowledged and lamented – including by politicians and their donors. But it is not simply the material outlays that grab one's attention, it is the manner in which the money flows," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Vaishnav rued that in India there is virtually zero transparency when it comes to political contributions.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It is next to impossible to either identify who has donated money to a politician or party or to figure out from where a politician has obtained his or her campaign funds, he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Very few donors are willing to disclose their political giving for fear of retribution should their preferred party not come to power, he noted.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The system of electoral bond, brought in by the current government, has not helped either, he argued.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The system lacks transparency, he said. </p>
<p class="title">The upcoming general elections in India will be the most expensive in Indian history and perhaps one of the most expensive ever held in any democratic country, a US-based expert has said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Election Commission of India is soon expected to announce its schedule for the polls to be held to elect 543 members of the Lok Sabha.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The combined US presidential and congressional elections in 2016 cost USD 6.5 billion. If the 2014 Lok Sabha elections cost an estimated USD 5 billion, there is little doubt the 2019 election will easily surpass that — making India's elections the world's most expensive," Milan Vaishnav, senior fellow and director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think-tank told PTI.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The uncertainty associated with the coming election —polls suggest a narrowing gap between the BJP and the opposition — only provides more fodder for an arms race in spending," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Vaishnav has emerged as an authoritative voice on Indian elections, in particular the funding aspects of it, over the years.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"While the outcome of the next general election is up in the air, one attribute about it is already well known: it will be the most expensive general election in Indian history and perhaps one of the most expensive ever held in any democratic society," Vaishnav wrote in an op-ed for Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a top American think-tank.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Noting that the 2014 general elections costed USD 5 billion, Vaishnav said it was not inconceivable that overall expenditure will double again this year.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The exorbitant cost of Indian elections has become a cardinal fact of the Indian political economy that is widely acknowledged and lamented – including by politicians and their donors. But it is not simply the material outlays that grab one's attention, it is the manner in which the money flows," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Vaishnav rued that in India there is virtually zero transparency when it comes to political contributions.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It is next to impossible to either identify who has donated money to a politician or party or to figure out from where a politician has obtained his or her campaign funds, he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Very few donors are willing to disclose their political giving for fear of retribution should their preferred party not come to power, he noted.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The system of electoral bond, brought in by the current government, has not helped either, he argued.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The system lacks transparency, he said. </p>