New Delhi, June 26: The Election Commission on Thursday said it has started proceedings for delisting of 345 registered unrecognized political parties (RUPPs) which have failed to fulfil the essential condition of contesting even a single election for the last six years since 2019.
The offices of these parties could also not be physically located anywhere, the EC said.
These RUPPs are from different states and UTs across the country, it said.
Since 2001, the EC has carried out exercise of weeding out defunct RUPPs “three to four” times, officials said.
The Supreme Court had earlier barred EC from “derecognising” political parties noting that it was not prescribed under law.
However, the EC has found a way to “delist parties”. Parties delisted can be listed again by the poll authority without getting into the process of giving them fresh recognition, a former EC functionary pointed out.
Besides over 2,800 RUPPs, there are six national and 67 state recognised political parties in the country.
It has come to the notice of the Commission that of over 2,800 RUPPs, currently registered with it, many have failed to fulfil the essential conditions which are required to continue as an RUPP, the officials said.
Following this, a nationwide exercise was conducted by the EC to identify such parties. A total of 345 RUPPs not fulfilling certain conditions have already been identified till now, they said.
Some RUPPs were in the past seen flouting income tax laws and money laundering Act.
In order to ensure that no party is unduly delisted, the chief electoral officers of respective states and UTs have been directed to issue show-cause notices to such RUPPs following which, these parties will be given an opportunity through a hearing by the concerned CEOs.
The final decision regarding the delisting of any RUPP will be taken by the EC.
Political parties (national/state/RUPPs) in the country are registered with the EC under the provisions of Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act 1951. Under this provision, any association once registered as a political party, gets certain privileges and advantages such as tax exemptions amongst others.
This exercise has been conducted with the aim of cleaning up the political system and delisting of such parties which have not contested any election to Lok Sabha or Legislative Assemblies of states/UTs or byelections since 2019 and those which could not be physically traced as well, the officials said.
These 345 RUPPs have been identified in the first phase of this exercise, which shall be continued with the objective of cleaning up the political system, the EC said. The move comes ahead of the Bihar polls. Parties delisted cannot field their candidates to contest elections. (PTI)
