86 non-existent political parties delisted, another 253 declared ‘inactive’: ECI

Advertisement

New Delhi, September 13

The Election Commission of India (ECI) today said it has ‘delisted’ 86 non-existent Registered Unrecognised Political Parties (RUPPs) and declared another 253 of them as ‘inactive’ as part of its action against those who do not comply with the rules.

In an official statement the ECI said, today’s action against 339 non-compliant RUPPs takes the tally to 537 of such political parties defaulting on their part since May 25, 2022.

The ECI said that as per statutory requirements under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, every political party has to communicate any change in its name, head office, office-bearers and address including PAN number to the poll panel without delay.

“A total of 86 RUPPs have been found to be non-existent either after a physical verification carried out by the respective chief electoral officers of concerned states and Union territories (UTs) or based on report of undelivered letters and notices from the postal authority sent to the registered address of the concerned RUPP,” the ECI said in the statement.

It may be recalled that the ECI had earlier delisted 87 and 111 RUPPs through orders dated May 25 and June 20, respectively.

The latest decision against 253 non-compliant RUPPs has been taken based on reports received from chief electoral officers of seven states – Bihar, Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh, it said, adding that they have not responded to the letters and notices delivered to them and have not contested a single election, be it assembly polls or parliamentary elections of 2014 and 2019.

“Any aggrieved party may approach the concerned chief electoral officer or the Election Commission within 30 days of the issuance of this direction along with all evidence of existence, other legal and regulatory compliances including year-wise (for all years under default) annual audited accounts, contribution report, expenditure report, updation of office-bearers, including authorised signatories for financial transactions,” the ECI said.