2025, Vol. 7, Issue 9, Part A

India is a vast democracy and the State takes up the elephantine task of conducting free and fair elections through the independent body called the election Commission of India. The state follows a multi-party system where each and every party canvasses and promotes its agenda while contesting elections. For the same, parties need funding. And parties rely on these funds for promotion of its interests. Not disclosing the source of party funds is detrimental to democratic framework of the country creating a nexus between political parties and corporate giants. Hiding the sources of party funds weakens democracy by fostering a close link between political parties and corporate powers. Dependence on a handful of corporates for financial support often results in public policies being shaped to serve private interests rather than citizens.

The scheme of electoral bonds brought in India legitimised opacity by dismissing the necessity of declaring the details of individuals and corporates that purchased the electoral bonds and the donations made to different political parties. This paper discusses the political funding in some of the countries to understand how these countries tried to manage political funding. This paper reviews the political funding in India in detail looking at the reforms ought to be brought with regard to political funding and made suggestions to bring transparency and accountability among parties for a vibrant democracy.