Behind the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) recent list of “non-existent” political parties are addresses that got left behind years ago or those that couldn’t be traced at all, while in some cases, there are office-bearers surprised by the move.
The ECI has been on a drive to clean up the list of registered unrecognised political parties, deleting 284 since May this year for either being untraceable during a physical check or not responding to communications. As of the last notification of parties and symbols in September 2021, there were 2,796 registered unrecognised parties, apart from the recognised national and State parties.
The ECI’s latest order on September 13 delisted 86 parties, of which 14 were in Delhi. These parties were found to be be in violation of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which mandates that every registered party must inform the ECI of any change in address, office-bearers, name, or Permanent Account Number (PAN). The affected parties were given 30 days to appeal. The apprehension, according to a senior ECI official, was that some parties may be misusing the Income Tax exemption clause. In fact, in July, the ECI gave the Revenue Department a list of three such parties for criminal action for serious financial impropriety.
