The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday ordered to delist 86 ‘non-existent’ registered unrecognised political parties (RUPPs) and declared 253 others as ‘inactive’ as it continued its crackdown on such organisations for violating the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the poll panel said.
With the latest order, the number of such political parties red flagged by the poll panel for failing to comply with electoral rules rose to 537.
“As per statutory requirements under Section 29A of the RP Act, every political party has to communicate any change in its name, head office, office bearers, address, PAN to the commission without delay,” ECI said in a statement. “This action against 339 non-compliant RUPPs takes the tally to 537 defaulting RUPPs since May 25, 2022.”
The poll panel began the exercise in May this year, when it initiated action against 2,100 unregistered parties to maintain financial discipline, public accountability and propriety.
The election commission withdrew all benefits under the Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 from the delisted RUPPs. It also declared 253 RUPPs as inactive based on reports received from the chief electoral officers from seven states, including Delhi, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Karnataka.
The RUPPs failed to respond to the letters sent by ECI and were found to be non-participant in either the assembly elections or general elections in 2014 and 2019, the commission said.
{{/usCountry}}The RUPPs failed to respond to the letters sent by ECI and were found to be non-participant in either the assembly elections or general elections in 2014 and 2019, the commission said.
{{/usCountry}}“These RUPPs have failed to comply with statutory requirements for over 16 compliance steps since 2015 and are continuing to default,” the chief election body said, while noting that 66 out of 253 RUPPs applied for a common symbol earlier, but they did not contest in the respective elections.
While the commission does not have the power to deregister a political party (a reform regarding the same is still pending approval from the government), it can take up the issue of financial irregularities and seek mandatory compliance from the parties, which includes disclosure of sources and manner of donations, companies, details of bank account and expenditure statements.
In May, the ECI found 87 non-existent parties and delisted them. The poll panel at the time had announced that it was taking action against over 2,100 registered unrecognised political parties for flouting rules and election laws, including those related to the filing of monetary contributions, failing to update their address and names of office bearers. It had earlier said that 2,796 RUPPs were listed until September 2021—an increase of over 300% since 2001.
According to ECI, the advantage of a common symbol is provided to RUPPs based on an undertaking to putting up 5% of total candidates in an assembly election. It further said the reason for an association to register as a political party is to avail of the privileges and advantages listed in Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
The ECI provided a 30-day period for the RUPPs to approach the chief electoral officer or the election commission with all the required documents and proofs. It also asked the 66 RUPPs that sought a common symbol to explain reasons for not setting up candidates in respective elections.
On September 7, meanwhile, the income tax department conducted raids at over 50 locations in multiple states as part of a tax evasion probe against RUPPs and their alleged dubious funding. The IT department on September 11 said RUPPs in Gujarat have amassed over ₹4,000 crore worth of donations in the last three financial years.
In May, the commission said 199 RUPPs took the benefit of income tax exemptions amounting to ₹445 crore in 2018-19 and 219 RUPPs amounting to ₹609 crore in 2019-20. “As many as 66 RUPPs (of these political parties) have claimed income tax exemption without submitting contribution reports,” said the statement.
Besides, there are 2,174 RUPPs that have not submitted contribution reports, 2,056 political parties have not furnished annual audited accounts and 100 of them have failed to provide election expenditure statements.