benefits of the Symbol Order, 1968
Additional 86 Non-existent RUPPs shall be deleted from the list and benefits
under the Symbols Order (1968) withdrawn
Action against these 339 (86+253) non-compliant RUPPs takes the tally to
537 defaulting RUPPs since May 25, 2022
In continuation of the earlier action initiated on May 25, 2022 for enforcing
due compliances by Registered Unrecognized Political Parties (RUPPs), the
Election Commission of India led by Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv
Kumar and Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey today further
delisted 86 non-existent RUPPs and declared additional 253 as ‘Inactive RUPPs’.
This action against 339 non-compliant RUPPs takes the tally to 537 defaulting
RUPPs since May 25, 2022.
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. 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/UTs or based on report of
undelivered letters/notices from Postal Authority sent to the registered address
of concerned RUPP.It may be recalled that ECI had delisted 87 RUPPs and 111
RUPPs vide orders dated May 25, 2022 and June 20, 2022, thus totalling the
number of delisted RUPPs to 284.
This decision against 253 non-compliant RUPPs has been taken based on
reports received from Chief Electoral Officers of seven states namely Bihar,
Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana & Uttar Pradesh. These
253 RUPPs have been declared inactive, as they have not responded to the
letter/notice delivered to them and have not contested a single election either to
the General Assembly of a State or the Parliament Election 2014 &2019. These
RUPPs have failed to comply with statutory requirements for more than 16
compliance steps since 2015 and are continuing to default.
It is also noted that of the above 253 parties, 66 RUPPs actually applied for
a common symbol as per para 10B of the Symbol’s Order 1968 and did not
contest the respective elections. It is pertinent to note that privilege of a common
symbol is given to RUPP based upon an undertaking for putting up at least 5
percent of total candidates with regard to said legislative assembly election of a
State. Possibility of such parties occupying the available pre-election political
space by taking benefits of admissible entitlements without contesting elections
cannot be ruled out. This also tends to crowd out the political parties actually
contesting elections and also creating confusing situation for the voters.
The Commission notes that the primary purpose of registration of political
parties is contained in Section 29A which lists out privileges and advantages
which accrue to an association once it gets registered as a political party and all
such advantages and privileges are directly relatable to the said participation in
the electoral processes.Accordingly, in the 13 (ii) (e)guidelines for registration of
political parties issued by the Commission for condition of registration, reads as
follows:
“Declares that party must contest an election conducted by the Election
Commission within five years of its registration and thereafter should
continue to contest. (If the Party does not contest elections continuously
for six years, the Party shall be taken off the list of registered
parties).”
The Commission is cognizant that compliances of the birth conditions,
which are a combination of mandated and self-acknowledged provisions, are
sine qua non for maintaining financial discipline, propriety, public
accountability, transparency. The compliances work as the building blocks of a
transparency mechanism for informing the voters of the affairs of the political
parties necessary for making informed choices. In the absence of required
compliances, the electorate and the Election Commission get blindsided. Further
all these stated regulatory requirements have direct bearing on the
Commission’s constitutional mandate of conducting free, fair and transparent
elections.
In view of the foregoing, immediate corrective measures are warranted in
larger public interest as well as for the purity of electoral democracy. Therefore,
the Commission, in discharge of its mandate of ensuring just, free, fair &
transparent electoral process hereby directs that:
i) 86 non-existent RUPPs, shall be deleted from the list of register of RUPPs
and render themselves liable to be not entitled to have benefits under the
Symbols Order, 1968.
ii) 253 RUPPs are marked as ‘Inactive RUPPs” in the register of RUPPs
maintained by the commission under the section 29A of Representation of
People Act, 1951.
iii) These 253 RUPPs shall not be eligible to avail any benefit of the Election
Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.
iv) Any party aggrieved from this, may approach the concerned Chief Electoral
Officer/Election Commission within 30 days of the issue of this direction
along with all evidences 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 authorized signatories for financial transactions
(including bank account).
v) Of these 253 RUPPS, 66 RUPPs which sought a common symbol under
para 10B in various elections but did not set up any candidates for the
respective general elections, shall need to further explain, in addition to
(point iii above), as to why further action as mandated in “para 10 b of the
Symbols Order making them liable for such punitive action as the
Commission may consider appropriate” should not be taken.
