“There is a need to expand the scope of ‘corrupt practices’ under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, to address emerging forms of electoral malpractices.” Comment.

1. Candidate expenditure: Diversion of expenses by use of family & friends- Ex) Booking rally venues.

2. Total expenditure of parties is not capped → Higher Money power. Ex) ADR Report: leading parties spent in excess of 6000 cr in 2024 elections-

3. Digital & Social Media → unaccounted Advertising

• Using influencers
• Crypto & NFT Based financing for campaigning.

1. PUCL Report : Candidates use shell companies to divert expenses.

2. Election Commission (2005 Report) : More than 80% Registered But Unrecognised Parties → used for money laundering.

3. AI challenges → Deepfake Propaganda → Misinformation → Anonymous influencing

Way Forward :

1. Dinesh Goswami Committee : update Sec 123 & 125 → Empowering EC to deregister defunct parties.

2. Inderjit Gupta Committee : State funding of elections to minimize corrupt practices.

3. Widen net to include AI & digital corrupt practices.