Bharti Jain | TNN | Updated: Nov 9, 2016,
NEW DELHI: The government's move to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes+ is expected to deal a major blow to political parties fattening their coffers with cash contributions in anticipation of high stakes electoral battles in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.
With political parties - and individual candidates - counting on cash to fuel campaigns, Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes becoming illegal tender in one stroke is bound to leave big players hamstrung and suddenly resource-poor.They will also have to deal with the prospects of cash hoards turning useless as the money was never declared and cannot be exchanged for legal denominations.
Lead players in UP and Punjab, where money is a big part of "election management", may need to completely rejig strategies and prepare to seriously scale down spending. Though the decision was taken by the BJP led government, the party itself and its leaders could well be seriously hamstrung.
"This is a big strike against black money that political parties may have already kept aside for the campaigns.Given that their campaign strategies would have factored in these cash collections, today's announcement is nothing short of a pre-poll disaster. For, the piles of cash are now a worthless heap. Political parties will now be forced to go back to the drawing board and redraft their campaign strategies," said a former chief election commissioner (CEC).
Another former CEC, H S Brahma, put it rather succinctly, "Tonight's announcement by Narendra Modi has by default ensured a level-playing field in the coming round of assembly polls as far as money power is concerned." Yet, parties particularly dependent on collecting money from supporters and candidates will be hit the hardest
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