Spending watchdog takes the bite out of election campaign

THE WORLD's largest electoral exercise gets under way in India on Saturday. Then 590 million registered voters will have a chance to vote in 151 constituencies to choose a new government.

Voting to elect 552 members of parliament will be spread over three days, April 27th and May 2nd and 7th. The outcome will be known by May 10th, and a new government is expected to be in office by mid May.

But the noise and colour normally associated with general elections in India is missing. This follows a limit on campaigning expenses imposed by the independent Election Commission.

Gone are the blaring loudspeakers, garish posters, graffiti and life sized cut outs of leaders. Gone also are the serpentine lines of candidates vehicles snaking their way through constituencies, leaving chaos in their wake.

By limiting spending by candidates to 450,000 rupees (£8,500) per seat, the commission has ensured that this election will be an austere affair.

All parties are also required to maintain detailed expenditure accounts, which will be supervised by an army of internal revenue inspectors.

The parties monitor each other's activities, and all complaints are investigated by the commission. A candidate who is found guilty can be disqualified.

In previous elections candidates have distributed bicycles, watches, blankets and other gifts to thousands of poor voters in shanty towns as commission officials turned a Nelson's eye.

But after Mr T.N. Seshan became chief election commissioner in 1991, political parties were forced to follow rules. Once he even made them clean up the walls they had plastered with vitriolic campaign posters and graffiti.

Meanwhile, the showdown at the hustings is between Prime Minister Narasimha Rao's Congress (I) party and the Hindu fundamentalist Bharatiya Janata Party, the BJP. Also contesting are the centrist Janata Dal and India's two main communist parties.

Corruption has been the main issue, but rising prices, the criminalisation of politics and government inefficiency have all featured on the election trail.

Opinion polls indicate total voter disenchantment with politicians, who are widely perceived as corrupt, inefficient and opposed to reform or progress.

Alliances are crucial, as no single party will be able to win a majority of 276 seats and form the government. "The real battle in stitching up coalitions will begin once votes have been counted" said a senior Congress MP.