Election Commission delists 334 registered unrecognised political parties

New Delhi: The Election Commission on Saturday delisted 334 registered unrecognised political parties (RUPPs), including 115 from Uttar Pradesh and 12 from Karnataka, for not fulfilling the condition of contesting at least a single election in the past six years and not being found at their registered addresses.

The action, which bars these parties from collecting donations and claiming Income Tax exemptions among other things, came following a verification exercise of 345 RUPPs conducted since June.

In 2022, the EC had taken action against 537 RUPPs for various violations, including delisting 284 RUPPs.

Twelve parties which were delisted in the latest exercise are from Karnataka and include Ambedkar Janatha Party, Bharatiya Praja Paksha, Jana Swarajya Party, Kalyana Kranthi Party, Karnataka Praja Vikas Party and Karnataka Swarajya Party.

Other Karnataka parties in the list are Mahila Pradhana Paksha, Namma Congress, Prajaa Raita Raajya Paksha, Rakshaka Sena, Samanya Janatha Party (Loktantrik) and Vichara Jagruthi Congress Paksha.

In the poll-bound Bihar, 17 parties have been delisted and it includes Bharatiya Backward Party, Bihar Janata Party and Gandhi Prakash Party.

While UP tops the list with 115 parties being delisted, Delhi has 27 such parties in the list, Tamil Nadu 22, Haryana 21, Madhya Pradesh 15, Telangana 13 and Gujarat 11.

With this, there are six national parties, 67 state parties and 2,520 RUPPs registered with EC. This delisting exercise is part of a comprehensive and continuous strategy to clean up the electoral system, the EC said in a statement.

A section of such RUPPs are accused of violating income tax laws and anti-money laundering laws. A registered party gets benefits like entitlement to accept contribution, income tax exemptions as well as facility of common symbol, preference over independent candidates on ballot paper and star campaigners.

Following a Supreme Court order, the EC cannot “derecognise” erring parties as a provision for derecognising a party is not provided in the law. In such a scenario, the EC has devised the method of ‘delisting’ parties, which can regain its registration afresh if it can convince the EC that its credentials are in order.

The 334 parties impacted by the order have been given 30 days time to the Election Commission against the order. The action came after Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) conducted enquiries, issued show-cause notices and provided them an opportunity to respond and present their case through personal hearings.

Based on reports of the CEOs, the EC said 334 RUPPs have been found not complying with conditions. The remaining 11 cases have been referred back to the CEOs for reverification.

The order said 334 parties have been “found to be non-existent at their registered address after a physical verification” carried out by either the respective CEOs or District Election Officers. Further, it said, these parties “have also not contested any election…continuously for the last six years, since 2019”.