dir="ltr">From times immemorial, politics and business have been inextricably linked together. Clean politics needs clean money. Good and sustainable business needs political support.

dir="ltr">This is the first general election in which disclosure of financial details of all candidates, their spouses and dependents is mandatory, as a necessary part of the nomination. However, the media are regaling us with stories of absurd ‘disclosures’ by may candidates, concealing much more than they reveal, and making amusing reading in some cases. Why is this so?

dir="ltr">This week, following the Election Commission’s recommendation, the Union government enhanced the election expenditure limits of candidates. For major states, the ceiling for  Assembly now is Rs. 10 lakhs (Rs. 6 lakh earlier), and for Lok Sabha it is  Rs. 25 lakhs (Rs. 15 lakh earlier). This revision became necessary with the recent change of law which plugged the loophole by including party expenditure in ceiling limits. Electioneering costs money, and the new legislation created tax incentive for legitimate funding for political activity.