Why India’s election is among the world’s most expensive

印度选举何以成为全球最昂贵的选举之一

By Archana Chaudhary and Jeanette Rodrigues

The world’s biggest de ocracy will soon hold what’s likely to be one of the world’s costliest elections. India’s six-week-long vote will span the Himalayan range in the north, the Indian Ocean in the south, the Thar desert in the west and the mangroves of the Sundarbans in the east.

全球最大的民*国家很快将举行或是全球最昂贵的选举之一。印度为期六周的选举将跨越北部的喜马拉雅山脉，南部的印度洋，西部的塔尔沙漠和东部的孙德尔本斯红树林。

This time the polling exercise, due to start on April 11 and be completed by May 19, will cost an unprecedented Rs 50,000 crore ($7 billion), according to the New Delhi-based Centre for Media Studies. About $6.5 billion was spent during the U.S. presidential and congressional races in 2016, according to OpenSecrets.org, which tracks money in American politics.

总部位于新德里的媒体研究中心表示，此次选举将耗资5000亿卢比(合70亿美元)，这是史无前例的。此次选举将于4月11日开始，5月19日结束。据追踪美国政治资金状况的OpenSecrets.org统计，2016年美国总统和国会选举期间，大约支出65亿美元。

The CMS projection marks a 40 percent jump from the $5 billion estimated to have been spent during India’s 2014 parliamentary vote. And it amounts to roughly $8 spent per voter in a country where about 60 percent of the population lives on around $3 a day.

媒体研究中心的预测比2014年印度议会选举期间预计的50亿美元增加了40%。每个印度选民平均将在这次大选中支出约8美元，而印度60%的人口每天消费在3美元左右。

“Most of the jump in spending will come in use of social media, travel and advertising,” said N. Bhaskara Rao, chairman of the Centre for Media Studies, who has advised previous governments and ran a market research group.

媒体研究中心主席N. Bhaskara Rao表示:“支出的大幅增长将主要来自社交媒体、旅游和广告的使用。

Social media spending is likely to be dramatically higher, surging to about Rs 5,000 crore from Rs 250 crore in 2014, Rao said. His group—which bases its projections on field interviews, government data, contracts given out, and other research—also expects a jump in the use of helicopters, buses and other transportation by traveling candidates and party workers.

N.Bhaskara Rao称，社交媒体支出可能会大幅增加，从2014年的25亿卢比飙升至约500亿卢比。其团队基于实地采访、政府数据、发出的合同和其他研究做出了预测，他们还预计，候选人和党内工作人员使用直升机、公共汽车和其他交通工具出行的情况会大幅增加。

Specific data can be hard to pin down, but costs are rising in general as constituency sizes increase and more candidates join the fray, said Simon Chauchard, a Columbia University lecturer who has followed elections in India.

哥伦比亚大学讲师西蒙·乔查德称，具体数据可能很难确定，但随着选区规模的扩大和更多候选人加入竞争，总体成本正在上升。乔查德一直在关注印度的选举。

Indian politicians feel “you’ve got to do new things, and crazier things, and bigger things and louder things,” Chauchard said. “It’s a bunch of panicky candidates throwing money around to voters but also to vendors selling all kinds of stuff useful in a political campaign.”

乔查德称，印度政界人士认为，“你必须去做更新颖、更疯狂的事情来吸引选民。一群惊慌失措的候选人把钱扔给选民，也扔给那些在政治竞选中出售各种有用东西的商贩。”

Here’s a look at where some of the money goes:

让我们看看这些钱都花在哪里:

Can Goats Help Win Votes?

山羊能帮助赢得选票吗?

With more than 8,000 contestants fighting for around 545 seats, there’s tough competition to win over voters. And a secret ballot ensures that a bribe can’t necessarily guarantee a vote. Gifts can help indicate to India’s voters that the contestant wields influence and resources, according to Chauchard.

8000多名参选者争夺545个席位，赢得选民的支持是一场激烈的竞争。无记名投票确保即使贿赂,也不一定能得到选票。乔查德称，礼品有助于向印度选民表明，参选者拥有影响力和资源。

More than 90 percent of federal-level Indian politicians said their peers feel pressured to hand out gifts like cash, alcohol or other personal goods, according to a survey by Jennifer Bussell, an assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

加州大学伯克利分校助理教授詹妮弗·布塞尔进行的一项调查显示，超过90%的印度联邦一级政界人士表示，他们的同僚感到有压力，不得不分发现金、酒精或其他个人物品等礼物。

Blenders, television sets and occasionally even goats are handed out as gifts in some areas. The Election Commission seized more than 1.3 billion rupees of unaccounted cash, gold, alcohol and drugs last year during a tight election in the state of Karnataka.

在一些地区，送出的礼物不仅有搅拌器和电视机，甚至还有山羊。选举委员会去年在卡纳塔克邦紧张的选举中查获了超过13亿卢比的不明现金、黄金、酒。

Most of the spending isn’t publicly disclosed. While candidates have a legal expenditure cap, parties can spend unrestricted amounts. The biggest national parties declared a combined income of just 13 billion rupees for the year through March 2018.

大部分支出都未公开披露。虽然候选人有合法支出上限，但政党可以不受限制地支出。最大的全国性政党宣布，截止2018年3月的财政年度总收入仅为130亿卢比。

Rallying the Troops With Chicken Curry

用咖喱鸡召集选民

Indian politicians love a good rally: They crisscross the country, corralling locals into large tents where they’re bombarded with campaign rhetoric.

印度政客们喜欢大集会:他们在全国各地穿梭，把当地人召集到大帐篷里，在那里他们受到竞选口号的轰炸。

To attract a crowd, some politicians may need to offer a box of food filled with biryani or chicken curry that can be too expensive for average citizens. That’s not to mention money needed for firecrackers, chairs, microphones, security and vehicles to ferry the participants back and forth.

为了吸引人群，一些政客可能需要提供一盒印度香饭或咖喱鸡，这些食物对普通民众来说太贵了。更不必说购买鞭炮、椅子、麦克风、保安人员和运送参选者来回所需的资金。

Dummy Candidates

虚假候选人

India’s Election Commission has long warned about dummy candidates: nominating someone with the same name as a front runner to confuse voters and split the vote.

长期以来，印度选举委员会一直对虚假候选人发出警告:提名与领先者同名的人以迷惑选民，分散选票。

In populous states like Uttar Pradesh, where a name can identify the caste or clan of a particular candidate, this trick can be especially helpful. Popular figures are also targeted: In 2014, actress Hema Malini was up against two other Hema Malinis, the Hindustan Times reported.

在人口众多的邦，比如北方邦，通过名字可以识别候选人的种姓或部落。《印度斯坦时报》报道称，受欢迎的人物也成为了攻击目标:2014年，女演员赫马·马里尼与另外两名赫马·马里尼对决。

But even fielding dummy candidates cost money. The expense can go as high as 120 million rupees, according to an investigation by India Today magazine in 2016. Parties also register multiple candidates to get around legal caps on how much an individual can spend, with the most popular member getting most of the resources.

但即使是让假候选人上场也要花钱。据《今日印度》杂志2016年的一项调查，这笔费用可能高达1.2亿卢比。政党还会登记多个候选人，以规避个人支出的法律上限，最受欢迎的成员将获得大部分资源。

Brand Building: Make India Great Again Swag

品牌建设:让印度再次伟大

As much as 26 billion rupees will be spent on advertising in the upcoming elections, according to Zenith India, a firm that arranges for slots on TV and in newspapers. That’s more than double the 12 billion that the Election Commission estimates the two main parties spent in 2014.

Zenith India称，在即将到来的大选中，高达260亿卢比将用于广告宣传。Zenith是一家为电视和报纸安排广告时段的公司。这是2014年两大主要政党120亿美卢比开支的两倍多。

In February alone, more than 40 million rupees was spent on political advertising on just one site—Facebook—the company’s report shows. Then there are T-shirts with the slogan “Namo Again” (Narendra Modi Again) peddled by his camp.

该公司的报告显示，仅在2月份，就有4000多万卢比用于在facebook上做政治广告。此外，莫迪阵营还兜售印有“Namo Again”（再选莫迪）口号的T恤。

Hermits and Elephants

隐士和大象

Campaign spending by political parties accounts for almost all India’s election outlays. But the Election Commission has also faced large costs organizing an election with polling stations running from 15,000 feet above sea level in the Himalayas and one for a sole hermit deep in the jungles of Western India.

政党的竞选支出几乎占了印度选举支出的全部。但选举委员会在组织选举时也面临着高昂的成本，建的投票站有位于喜马拉雅山海拔15000英尺处的，有专为印度西部丛林深处的唯一隐士准备的。

India’s budget has allocated 2.62 billion rupees to the Election Commission this fiscal year, a new high. Some of that may be used for elephants to carry electronic voting machines to relatively inaccessible regions, and boats to ferry men and materials across the mighty Brahmaputra river in the northeast.

印度本财年的预算为选举委员会拨款26.2亿卢比，创历史新高。其中一些支出可能用于租借大象运送电子投票机到相对难以进入的地区，以及用于在东北部雅鲁藏布江上运送人员和物资的船只上。

印度经济时报读者评论：

译文来源：三泰虎    译者：Jessica.Wu

外文： https://economictimes.indiatimes.com

Srinivasan Venkataraman

1 days ago

These sort of Paid Authors who furnish fradulent Data should be banned and deported. They have no idea on anything but are given an opportunity to speak on subjects of National interest. A disgrace to India .

这种收了钱的作者提供了虚假数据，应该被除名并驱逐出境。他们什么都不懂，却就事关国家利益的问题发言。这是印度的耻辱。

Radhey Gupta

1 days ago

We are a nation of 1.3 Billion people & almost 800-million people Vote in these elections. If you consider per person expenditure then these won''t appear all that costly. Also remember we are the largest de ocracy & almost becoming the greatest one also as our de ocratic roots become stronger.

我们有13亿人口，近8亿人参与了选举。如果你把这些花费平摊到每个人头上，就不会显得那么昂贵了。记住，我们是最大的民*国家，而且随着我们的民*根基变得更加牢固，我们将成为最伟大的民*国家。

M.L. Gupta

1 days ago

This is not a well researched article. The writers will greatly benefit by travelling to the four corners of the country. Then only real estimates can be worked out. The Congress had taken the lead in this kind of electioneering in early 60s- others are simply a them. There is a lot to learn from the Congress election management even today! All others who tried to indulge in Congress tricks for wng an election got exposed in just one election from Kolkata to Kanyakumari, Hyderabad to Lucknow, Rajkot to Raipur.

这篇文章的调研不够充分。到全国各地考察将会让作者受益匪浅。只有这样才能估算出真实的数据。60年代初，国大党在这类竞选活动中处于领先地位——其他人只是在模仿他们。即使在今天，在选举管理方面，国大党仍有很多值得学习的地方! 从加尔各答到坎亚库马瑞，从海德拉巴到勒克瑙，从拉杰科特到赖布尔，所有那些试图用国大党套路来赢得选举的人，在一次选举中就暴露了。

Neelesh Joshi

1 days ago

vote for the least corrupt and most hardworking. there is no such thing like non corrupt, so vote wisely and please say no to NOTA, it''s for the confused class

投票给最廉洁、最勤奋的人。

Ashwani Kumar Aggarwal

1 days ago

Indian elections can be made the World''s cheapest if we have voting from Mobiles

如果我们用手机投票，印度选举或能成为世界上成本最低的

Atilla Hun

2 days ago

Because we have the most corrupt collection of politicians in our nation

因为我们有最腐败的政客

Krishnadas Cp

2 days ago

the pillars of the largest de ocracy are reservations and freebies

我们这个最大民*国家的支柱是预留制和赠品

Subbu India

2 days ago

Whatever people may say, we must admit that corruption at all levels is the reason high cost of everything including election.

无论人们怎么说，我们必须承认，各级腐败是造成成本高昂的原因，包括选举。

Jagdip Vaishnav

2 days ago

Number of voters are high, Candidates from different political parties are more

选民人数多，来自不同政党的候选人也越来越多