Election Commission delists 86 ‘non-existent’ registered unrecognised political parties

The Election Commission on Tuesday ordered the delisting of another 86 ‘non-existent’ registered unrecognised political parties, raising the number of such organisations red flagged by the poll body for failing to comply with electoral rules to 537.

In a statement, the EC said “immediate corrective measures” were required to be taken in the larger public interest as well as for the “purity” of electoral democracy and hence it has also declared an additional 253 registered unrecognised political parties (RUPPs) as “inactive”.

The decision was taken by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey, it said.

“The EC 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,” the EC said.